Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir Suffer Setback Following New Zealand Defeat; Mohammed Shami's Injury Delays Return

The Indian cricket team has encountered another significant setback following their disappointing 3-0 series loss to New Zealand at home. As they prepare for their upcoming tour of Australia, it has been confirmed that veteran pacer Mohammed Shami will not be part of the squad due to ongoing recovery from an injury. There were initial hopes that Shami would participate in the Ranji Trophy matches to regain fitness for the Australia tour, but this plan has now been derailed.

According to reports from news agency PTI, Shami's return to competitive cricket has been postponed further as he was not included in the Bengal squad for the next two rounds of the Ranji Trophy, where they will face Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. The Bengal team is set to play against Karnataka at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru this Wednesday before traveling to Indore to take on Madhya Pradesh starting November 13.

Shami had been expected to make his return during the Karnataka match to assess his fitness in a real match situation, especially after he bowled at full intensity in the nets following India’s recent Test matches against New Zealand, albeit with a bandage on his operated leg. India's bowling coach Morne Morkel monitored him during this period.

In a promotional event, Shami expressed optimism, stating that he felt “100%” during his net sessions, explaining, "I had been bowling with half a run-up on and off since I can't put too much stress on my body. So, we decided that I would bowl properly, and I gave my 100%. It felt great, and the results are good. Hopefully, I'll be back on track soon."

Captain Rohit Sharma shared concerns about bringing an unfit Shami to Australia, emphasizing, "We don't want to bring undercooked Shami to Australia. We are keeping our fingers crossed."

Aside from Shami, Bengal will also be without other key players like prolific opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel, and pacer Mukesh Kumar, who are currently with the India A squad in Australia. Pacer Akash Deep, who participated in the recent series against New Zealand, was also excluded from the state squad. However, veteran wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who has announced his retirement after the current domestic season, will participate in the upcoming matches.

The Bengal squad for the matches against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh includes Anustup Majumdar (captain), Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Sudip Chatterjee, Sudip Gharami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Writtick Chatterjee, Avilin Ghosh, Shuvam Dey, Shakir Habib Gandhi, Pradipta Pramanik, Aamir Gani, Ishan Porel, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Kaif, Rohit Kumar, and Rishav Vivek.