Mohammed Shami SLAPS Ajit Agarkar’s right-hander with 31-ball Ranji Trophy fifty after India are dismissed

Veteran Indian pacer Mohammed Shami is desperately trying to make a comeback for India in any format. Despite his strong performances with the ball in all three formats of domestic cricket, he was consistently ignored by the BCCI Chief Selector, Ajit Agarkar. This time, however, he added a new attribute to his resume.

Since the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, Mohammed Shami has not played a single match for India in any of the three international formats. Although not for T20Is, Shami is often considered by the Indian fans and cricket enthusiasts for the Test and ODI side; However, the selectors have cited several reasons for his continued criticism, including injuries, lack of form, lack of regular matches and many more.

Shami’s form was also great in the Ranji Trophy, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Since RP Singh was appointed to the BCCI Board of Selectors, he has witnessed many of Shami’s classics firsthand.

Mohammed Shami takes power with half a century; BCCI Selector impressed

The Bengal pacer is getting older, and yet he does everything a pacer can do with the ball. This was the right time for India to consider him as the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup will be played in South Africa where conditions will favor the veteran’s style of bowling.

RP Singh, the National Selector from Central Zone, is keeping an eye on Mohammed Shami. Shami has been delivering with the ball so far but this time he has stunned everyone with a masterclass of batting against Andhra.

Shami came into bat at number 10 and scored a half-century off 31 balls, taking Bengal to a massive 629 and being part of a successful partnership alongside Mukesh Kumar. The out-of-favour Indian pacer hit 7 fours and 3 sixes in his innings and surpassed his half-century with a strike rate of 160.61 against Andhra Pradesh in the third quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy 2025-2026.

30-ball half-century for Mohammed Shami as national selector RP Singh watches from the sidelines. pic.twitter.com/LTCEX2Z3Lx

— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) February 9, 2026

Mohammad Shami is Bengal’s second highest wicket-taker this season

Mohammed Shami has been one of Bengal’s standout pacers in this Ranji Trophy season. He has not only been one of the strike bowlers but rather has been the choker of the scoring rates which has put the pressure on the opposition batsmen.

Shami is the second highest wicket-taker of the season. After playing six matches and bowling in ten of those innings, he has picked 28 wickets. On the other hand, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed is the highest wicket-getter with 35 wickets in just 7 matches and 12 innings.

Shami also picked up crucial wickets in the quarter-final against Andhra Pradesh, while Mukesh Kumar took a five-wicket haul and Akash Deep also backed him with a 4-fer.

Sudip Gharami missed an astonishing triple century

While batsmen like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shahbaz Ahmed failed to star with the bat, Bengal’s veteran No. 3 Sudip Kumar Gharami played the innings of a lifetime. Sudip scored a double century, batting throughout their innings.

He came to bat when only one wicket fell for the Bengal side and was subsequently dismissed as the 9th wicket for Bengal. His innings consisted of 299 runs as he narrowly missed his triple century.

The other batsmen who made significant contributions include Sumanta Gupta and Shakir Habib Ghosh, who also missed out on a well-deserved century, and then Mohammed Shami, who stunned everyone with a lower-order cameo.

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