Veteran Indian pacer Mohammed Shami on August 30 completed 900 wickets in professional cricket. Shami is the sixth Indian pacer to take 900 or more wickets in professional cricket which includes all T20s, List A/One-Day cricket and first-class cricket. Shami achieved the feat wicket the wicket of Central Zone bowling all-rounder Arshad Khan on Day 1 of Duleep Trophy 2026 semifinal.
Indian pacer with most wickets in professional cricket are — Kapil Dev (1,170 wickets), Zaheer Khan (1,168 wickets), Jaydev Unadkat (941 wickets), Javagal Srinath (940 wickets), Vinay Kumar (923 wickets).
In the ongoing domestic season, Shami can surpass Vinay and enter the top five list. He can also go past Srinath as well. However, he will have to fight it out for the third place as left-arm pacer Unadkat is an active player.
Earlier, on Day 1, Shami struggled with his shoulder and left the field early to get medical attention from the physio. He returned to the field but could not take a wicket with the new ball. But, Shami was able to set up Yash Rathod, forcing him to play a shot off the ball he could've left. He played it away from the body and was dismissed caught behind.
Later, in Day 1's play, he got Arshad's wicket. He bowled a total of 16 overs including three maidens, conceded 42 runs and bagged a couple of wickets. Central Zone were bowled out for 266.
Before the game, Shami had 377 wickets in first-class cricket, 283 in List A and 238 in T20s.
Shami’s long wait continues
Shami has truly fallen off the selector’s radar. Even when Jasprit Bumrah was injured, Shami wasn’t called to red-ball or white-ball squads. Auqib Nabi and Gurnoor Brar are in focus whereas Prince Yadav has been getting chances in white-ball cricket.
The only sign of Shami being looked at for the next Test series which is on New Zealand soil can be a selection in India A squad against Australia A. The conditions in New Zealand may benefit him.
Also, it is yet to be seen whether Shami is in the Rest of India squad for Irani Cup 2026 match against Jammu & Kashmir.