Mohammed Shami to Miss Bengal's Opening Vijay Hazare Trophy Match Due to Injury

New Delhi: Mohammed Shami will not be participating in Bengal's opening match against Delhi in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. The tournament is set to commence this Saturday, on the 21st of December, and Shami has been included in the 20-member squad announced by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). However, the star bowler will be sitting out of the first match, which is scheduled to take place in Hyderabad.

Shami, even after showcasing his recovery from an injury by featuring in a singular Ranji Trophy match and partaking in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, hasn’t had his name pop up in the squad for the approaching Australian tour with team India. Rumors were floating around that he might join the troop during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but it didn’t materialize.

Despite no recent updates, India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, has urgently requested an official report on Shami’s condition from the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He also commented on Shami’s current status, stating that he’s dealing with knee swelling. “I understand he’s playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well.

“So, look, the last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens. So, there is no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not 100%, 200% sure, we’re not going to take any risk.

“But yeah, like I said in the last press conference, the door is open if those guys at the NCA feel that he is okay to go and recover and play, we’ll be happy to have him,” After the Brisbane Test wrapped up, Rohit shared that Mohammed Shami’s progress has been keeping Nitin Patel quite busy. Patel, who leads the sports science department at the Centre of Excellence, has had his team on the move across the nation, diligently tracking Shami’s progress.