India pacer Mohammed Shami made a stunning return to the Ranji Trophy, taking four wickets to put Bengal team ahead of MP Team at the Holkar Stadium. On Thursday, playing his first Ranji Trophy match after2018, showed his character and a charming performance giving figures of 4-54 in 19 overs.
After not taking any wickets on the opening day, Shami came back with a mission to dominate on Day 2. He gave an early blow, taking MP captain Shubham Sharma for a cheap 8 runs.
Shami consistently showed his class and broke all the partnerships early-on, then he went on to sweep the tailenders.
Shami’s amazing spell put Bengal ahead, setting the tone for their campaign. Despite not bowling at full pace, Shami troubled the MP batters consistently, including beating the edge of key batter Rajat Patidar multiple times.
He was seen bowling in tandem with his brother, Mohammed Kaif. Shami’s appearance in this Ranji Trophy match comes after a five-year gap; his last game for Bengal was a one-off encounter against Kerala in November 2018, just before India’s historic 2-1 Test series triumph in Australia. During that Border-Gavaskar series, Shami was a crucial contributor, claiming 16 wickets.
As Shami returns to peak fitness he is proving that he is a first class athlete in all aspects.
