The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee might have shut the door on his India career, but Mohammed Shami is refusing to give up and has forced the world to take notice of him again by doing the hard grind in domestic cricket. The Indian cricket legend has bowled his heart out in his state, Bengal's pursuit of a first Ranji Trophy title in 36 years.
During the ongoing semi-final between Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), currently taking place at the Kalyani Cricket Ground in Kolkata. After Bengal posted a massive score of 328 runs, Shami bowled a spell for the ages to ensure the two-time champions got a vital first innings lead of 26 runs by bowling out the visitors for 302, which ensured they took a 26-run lead. The 35-year-old took eight wickets in 22.1 overs while giving away just 90 runs.
Mohammed Shami Achieves New Career High
This marked the first time in his career that Shami had taken eight wickets in an innings in a first-class game. The veteran Indian cricketer has played 97 red-ball games in his career which include 64 Test matches, but his previous best bowling figures before today were 7/79, a record he set in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy. He has taken seven or more wickets for only the second time in his career in a first-class match and is yet to do it in a Test match.
Best Bowling Figures For Mohammed Shami In First-Class Innings
Shami has played for Bengal in all three formats in domestic cricket this season and shown the world that, as far as skill is concerned, he is still up there with the best in the world. He has taken 36 wickets in seven games during the Ranji Trophy. On the other hand, he got 15 scalps in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) and 16 wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) in seven games each. Across the three formats, he has dismissed 67 players in 21 games this season.
Shami has not played for India in any format since the 2025 Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in March last year. His last T20I appearance was against England in February 2025. However, he has not played in any Test match for India since the 2023 World Test Championship final.
After the announcement of India's Test squad for the home series against West Indies, chief selector Agarkar was asked about Shami's exclusion. He stated that the player had not played enough cricket since returning from injury. Since then, the star pacer has played the entire season for Bengal across formats
"I have no update. He has played in the Duleep Trophy. But in the last two-three years, he hasn't played a lot of cricket. I think he played one game for Bengal and one in the Duleep Trophy. As a performer, we know what he can do, but he has to play cricket," said Agarkar in September 2025.
Shami was evidently not pleased with the remark and lashed out at Agarkar by claiming no one had asked him for an update on his fitness.
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