NEW DELHI: Out-of-favour India fast bowler Mohammed Shami has been included in Bengal's squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, riding on a strong run in domestic cricket where he has claimed 36 wickets across formats.
The senior pacer, who has been out of the national setup and was not picked for the recent series against South Africa, has made an impressive comeback for Bengal after a prolonged injury lay-off.
While his fitness had been questioned following his omission from India duty, Shami has silenced doubts with consistent performances on the domestic circuit despite the absence of a national recall.
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Beginning with the red-ball season, Shami picked up 20 wickets from four Ranji Trophy matches at an average of 18.60, including a 5/38, as Bengal remain unbeaten from five outings after securing three outright wins to sit atop Group C.
He carried his form into the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, finishing as Bengal's leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps from seven matches at an average of 14.93.
In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Shami will spearhead Bengal's three-pronged pace attack, which also includes India pacers Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar. In the squad announced on Friday, top-order batter Abhimanyu Easwaran was named captain.
Bengal have been placed in Elite Group B and will begin their campaign against Vidarbha in Rajkot on December 24. The other teams in the group are Assam, Baroda, Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh.
The tournament will be held across Ahmedabad (Group A), Rajkot (Group B), Jaipur (Group C) and Alur (Group D), while Bengaluru's Centre of Excellence will host the knockout stages from January 12-18.
Bengal squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Anustup Majumdar, Abishek Porel (WK), Sudip Kr Gharami, Sumanta Gupta, Sumit Nag (WK), Chandrahas Dash, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karan Lal, Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Sayan Ghosh, Ravi Kumar, Aamir Gani, Vishal Bhati, Ankit Mishra.
(With PTI Inputs)
