Mohammed Shami, who claimed at a programme in Gurgaon on Monday that he’s “100 per cent pain-free” at present, may make his comeback to competitive cricket in Bengal’s Ranji Trophy clash against Karnataka in Bengaluru from November 6.
The senior India pacer resumed bowling during India’s nets at the Chinnaswamy after the first Test against New Zealand ended last Sunday.
“There’s a good possibility of Shami coming into the team for the Karnataka game. Since that game is still two weeks away, there’s time at his disposal and he can shape up even better,” a BCCI official told The Telegraph on Tuesday.
“It’s not that he’ll straightaway bowl 30 overs in the game... Could be a spell of 10-15 overs.”
Shami himself too had spoken about his need to play “one or two matches” before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia beginning on November 22 in Perth.
“The way Shami has been progressing, it appears he could be available from the third Test (in Brisbane from December 14-18),” the Board official stated.
Venue shift
Bengal’s next Ranji game, against Kerala beginning on Saturday, has been shifted to the JU Salt Lake campus ground from the Bengal Cricket Academy (BCA) ground in Kalyani. It remains to be seen whether the BCA will be allotted BCCI tournament games going forward.
The outfield there has incurred the wrath of Yograj Singh, the match referee for the Bengal-Bihar game which was abandoned despite no rain during match timings.