Shami available for first two Bengal T20 matches

The India pacer returned to action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, after a prolonged gap of about nine months following his knee surgery. He bowled only 18 overs and bagged three wickets from two matches in the domestic one-dayers.

Mohammad Shami has been named in the ODI and T20Is squads for the upcoming Australia Tour.

Fit-again India pacer Mohammed Shami will play two matches for Bengal in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament as the state today picked a 16-member squad.

“Shami will play first two matches and that’s why we have picked a 16-member team and included Alok Pratap Singh as the 16th member,” according to a Cricket Association of Bengal official.

The India pacer, who has been named in the ODI and T20Is squads for the upcoming Australia Tour, returned to action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, after a prolonged gap of about nine months following his knee surgery.

Shami bowled only 18 overs and bagged three wickets from two matches in the domestic one-dayers.

Manoj Tiwary will lead Bengal, who will open their campaign against Hyderabad in Nagpur on January 2 in Group A, which will be held in a round-robin cum knock-out format.

Bengal are clubbed with defending champions Gujarat, Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Vidarbha and they will leave for Nagpur on the New Year’s eve.

Bengal squad: Manoj Tiwary (captain), Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Sudip Chatterjee, Debabrata Das, Pankaj Shaw, Pramod Chandila, Aamir Gani, Pragyan Ojha, Sayan Sekhar Mondal, Mohammed Shami, Ashok Dinda, Mukesh Kumar, Anurag Tiwari and Alok Pratap Singh.