Fit-again Shami to return to action in Vijay Hazare

A fit-again Mohammed Shami, who was under rehab at the National Cricket Academy after his knee surgery in May, was today named in the 17-member Bengal squad for the Vijay Hazare one-day tournament to be held from December 10-28.

Shami, who last played in the India’s World Cup semis against Australia in Sydney on March 26, will be eyeing to make an India comeback in the away-series Down Under in January consisting five ODIs and three T20Is.

“I am back after eight months, so I am taking it slow and easy… I am gearing up to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It will be a good preparation going into the limited overs series against Australia,” Shami said.

The India pacer had a successful World Cup where he took 17 wickets at an average of 17.29 but the injury left him bed-ridden as he underwent surgery in Mumbai on May 5.

Such bad was his injury that he was not able to walk for a month as he was walking with crutches but seven months down the line he is fully fit again, bowling full throttle at the Bengaluru-based BCCI’s academy.

The last season’s semifinalists have been clubbed with Goa, Himachal Pradesh, UP, Madhya Pradesh and Saurashtra in Group D of the List A tournament to be held in Rajkot.

The Manoj Tiwary-led side will also be bolstered by the return of Wriddhiman Saha from the national duty as they will open their campaign against Goa on December 10.

Squad: Manoj Tiwary (captain), Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha, Sudip Chatterjee, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sayan Sekhar Mondal, Sreevats Goswami, Pankaj Shaw, Debabrata Das, Aamir Gani, Pragyan Ojha, Mohammad Shami, Ashok Dinda, Mukesh Kumar, Sayan Ghosh, Pradipta Pramanik, Alok Pratap Singh.