Mohammed Shami impresses with fitness in Vijay Hazare Trophy ahead of Champions Trophy squad announcement

Shami had a stellar performance in Bengal's Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout match against Haryana in Vadodara, taking three crucial wickets to finish as the team's highest wicket-taker. What made his performance even more impressive was that he bowled his full quota of 10 overs in the match, a feat he had not achieved in this year's tournament until now. In his previous two matches against Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, Shami had bowled eight overs in each game and recorded figures of 1/40 and 1/28, respectively. This latest display of skill and endurance shows Shami's growing impact in the tournament.

Half-centuries from Path Vats and Nishant Sindhu helped Haryana set up a score of 289/9 batting first. Shami got the wickets of opener Humansu Rana, wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana and Anshul Kamboj.

Shami's injury saga

Shami had initially been widely expected to join the Indian team in Australia for at least the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, if not earlier. He had bowled 43 overs in the Ranji Trophy match for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in November. He then played in all nine games of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India later stating that he had also engaged in additional bowling sessions on the sidelines to build his bowling volume in order to get ready for the Test matches in Australia.

The 34-year-old then sat out Bengal's first match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with India captain Rohit Sharma saying in Brisbane that Shami was being troubled by swelling in his knee. The BCCI eventually announced that Shami won't be playing any role in the series due to the swelling.

It remains to be seen whether Shami will be picked for India's upcoming T20I and ODI series against England and the Champions Trophy that comes later. He hasn't played international cricket since the final of the 2023 World Cup on November 19. Shami's last Test was the 2023 WTC Final, which means he missed the entirety of India's 2023/25 WTC cycle. The team's stunning home whitewash to New Zealand and their 3-1 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy meant that the 2025 WTC Final will be the first to not feature India.

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