‘Shami Will Join Us For Ranji Trophy Games’: Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s Big Claim On Mohammed Shami

Laxmi Ratan Shukla who is the coach of the Bengal Ranji team, disclosed that star pace bowler Mohammed Shami wants to play two matches in the Ranji Trophy before going to Australia for the five-match Test series. Shami is yet to prove that he fully fit ahead of the much-awaited Border Gavaskar series between India and Australia, starting from November 22.

“He is not available for this match (vs Kerala), but we are hopeful that Shami will join us for games against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh,” Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla told The Indian Express.

“He is a valuable player for India and the team will require his service for the Australia series. Recently, he mentioned how keen he is about playing a couple of Ranji games for Bengal before travelling to Australia. Good outings in the Ranji Trophy will be good for him ahead of the Australia tour and will be a big boost for us our four key players are playing for India and India A,” added Shukla.

Earlier, Shami talked about his recovery as he had surgery back in February. Recently, he was also spotted bowling to India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar after his side's first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. 

As per a report, Shami is likely to take part in Bengal’s fourth and fifth fixtures against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Shami is currently slogging hard to regain his fitness for the upcoming India and Australia series.

Currently, the Indian team is locking horns with New Zealand in a three-match Test series with the second Test undergoing in Pune.

India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel.

New Zealand Squad: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke, Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy.