Indore: India quick Mohammed Shami made a successful return from injury as calls increased for him to be rushed out to Australia for the upcoming battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Shami has been battling an ankle injury ever since playing a key role in India's run to the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Final on home soil last year and made a low-key return to competitive action for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy clash against Madhya Pradesh in Indore this week.
Despite not having bowled in a match for almost 12 months, Shami looked close to his best as he delivered 19 overs and collected impressive figures of 4/54 to help put Bengal in a strong position in the four-day contest at Holkar Cricket Stadium.
Shami took to social media shortly after his bowling return to pay credit to the fans who had supported him throughout his comeback.
"Finally The wait is over! After 360 days, I’m back on field, stronger and hungrier. 4 wickets for Bengal in Ranji and this is just the start. Every delivery, every wicket is dedicated to YOU, my incredible fans. Your love fuels my passion! Let’s make this season unforgettable!"
Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla was amazed at the seamless return Shami made to the bowling crease and thought the experienced right-armer would only get better as he got more competitive cricket under his belt.
"Someone has come back after one year and has bowled 19 overs and taken so many wickets... what's there to say?" he said.
"He came into the match without doing any match simulation. Can you imagine? But obviously if he plays more, he will get better," Shukla said.
"He bowled one six-over spell and one five-over spell. Players who bowl in the IPL don't even know how to bowl more than four overs. He bowled the sort of spells fast bowlers are expected to. I have never seen a fast bowler come back so strongly after one year away. What he did today is like a fairy tale," Shukla added.
While Shami is not currently included in India's touring party for the upcoming five-match series in Australia, there have been calls for the 34-year-old to be rushed out for the latter part of the series if the side are still in contention for a place in next year's ICC World Test Championship Final.
India need to win four of the five Tests in Australia to ensure their place at a third straight World Test Championship Final and former coach Ravi Shastri is among the long-time admirers of Shami, who thinks he could still play a part of the series Down Under.
"If anything, I would have wanted a little more support for Jasprit Bumrah in the pace-bowling attack," Shastri told host Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review when quizzed about the make-up of the India squad in Australia.
"So the quicker Mohammed Shami gets fit and is on a flight, I think it's better for India," he said.
The first Test between Australia and India commences in Perth on November 22
India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
