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Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami sent a message of intent to the selectors with his brilliant performance in Bengal's Ranji Trophy opener against Uttarakhand. After picking up three wickets in the first innings, the 35-year-old went on to better his performance and clinched four scalps in the second innings. Thanks to his brilliant spell of 4/38, Bengal bundled out Uttarakhand for 265 in their second innings to set up a modest target of 155 on Day 4.
Notably, despite being quite economical, Shami had gone wicket-less during the third day. The pacer only gave away 21 runs in 15 overs but wasn't able to rack up any scalps. However, that all changed on Day 4 as he picked up the massive wicket of Kunal Chandela for 72 runs.
Bengal's impressive bowling display
Shami was assisted well by the pace duo of Akash Deep and Ishan Porel, who picked up two scalps each and rattled Uttarakhand's batting order. Shami's second wicket would come in the form of Abhay Negi, who departed after scoring 23 runs. Hen then went on to take the final two wickets of the innings to wrap up Uttarakhand's innings. Bengal now have a great chance of beginning their Ranji Trophy campaign on a positive note.
Agarkar's verdict on Shami
Meanwhile, selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar had revealed the reason behind Shami's continued India snub on Friday. He had remarked that even though the selectors wanted the pacer to be in the squad for the five-match Test series against England, they didn't choose him due to issues with his fitness. He also reacted to the comments that Shami had made publicly after his snub from Australia's white-ball tour.
“If he says that to me, I will answer that. If I read what he said, I will give him a call. I have had multiple chats with him over the last few months. If he said something, that is a conversation for me to have with him," Agarkar said, speaking at the NDTV World Summit.
“If he were fit, he would have been on that plane to England. The domestic season has just started and we will see if he is fit enough. We were desperate to have him for the Australia tour, but he wasn’t fit. If he is fit over the next two months, the story might change," he added.
With 7 wickets in his first Ranji match of the season, it is safe to say that Shami has made a strong start to the domestic tournament. He will be looking to maintain this form in Bengal's upcoming matches as well.
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