Duleep Trophy 2025: Mohammed Shami fails to deliver on first-class return, gives away 100 runs in disappointing spell

Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami had a forgettable day at the office against North Zone in Duleep Trophy. The 34-year-old, who is featuring for East Zone in the domestic tournament, ended up bowling an expensive spell on the second day of the match and could only manage to take one wicket during the innings.

Shami bowled a total of 23 overs during the match and leaked 100 runs in what was quite a disappointing spell. His only wicket of the inning came on the first day when he dismissed Sahil Lotra for 19 runs. The spell proved to be quite costly for East Zone as their opponents ended up posting a formidable first-inning total of 408 runs on the board.

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It was left-arm spinner Manishi who was the star of the show for East Zone as he finished with stunning figures 6/111. If it wasn't for his brilliant spell then the North Zone would have piled on even more misery for the Riyan Parag-led side. Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal also chipped in with two important wickets as the East Zone capped off a rather poor bowling display at BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Not a memorable first-class return for Shami

Meanwhile, this is Shami's first first-class match in nine months, but he wasn't able to deliver as per expectations in the first innings and will be aiming to improve in the second innings. The seamer, whose last red-ball match for India was the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2023, had given a great performance in his previous Ranji Trophy campaign last year and had racked up seven scalps from two innings.

On the other hand, after not getting picked for India's recent tour of England and Asia Cup 2025, Shami had remarked that he is ready to impress selectors by performing well at the domestic circuit.

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“If someone has a problem, tell me. Do their lives somehow improve if I retire? Whose life have I become a rock in that you want me to retire?. The day I get bored, I will leave. You don’t pick me, but I will keep working hard. You don’t pick me internationally, I will play domestically. I will keep playing somewhere or the other. Decisions about retirement come when you start feeling bored. That’s not the case for me now,” Shami had told News24.

Shami's last international appearance came earlier this year in the ICC Champions Trophy final against New Zealand. Since then, the seamer has fallen down the pecking order and there is no guarantee as to when he will be called back to India's squad in any of the three formats. The only thing that he can do now is perform well with the ball in domestic cricket and prove himself to the selectors.