Through IPL, many players have made a place in Team India in the last few years. Not only in T20 format, but some players have also made their debut in ODI and even Test format through it. Not only this, many times IPL has also become a medium for the return of those players for whom the doors of the team seemed to be closed. A similar ray of hope seems to be shining for the player who was suddenly dropped from the team. This is star fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who has shown his talent in just 48 balls of IPL 2026.
Shami out after Champions Trophy
He has been an important part of Team India’s bowling in Test and ODI cricket for almost a decade. Mohammed Shami International cricket has suddenly started going downhill. Shami, who broke many records by taking the most wickets in the World Cup 2023, has gone through tremendous ups and downs since then. Due to the injury in the World Cup final, he remained out of the team for a year and even when he came back, he was left out after winning the Champions Trophy.
Shami has been out of international cricket for the last one year but still he has been proving himself by coming out on the field again and again. After proving his fitness and form in Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy, Shami is now doing the same thing in IPL 2026. Shami wreaked such havoc with the new ball in the first two matches of this season, which created problems for the batsmen. He proved that he still has the fire left in him with his 8 overs bowling against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Proved himself in just 48 balls
Against Delhi, Shami took the wicket of KL Rahul on the very first ball. In that match he conceded only 28 runs in 4 overs. But it was very difficult for him to play in the next match. Hyderabad, for which he played till last season, this time he wreaked havoc on the same team. Shami destroyed the explosive opening pair of Abhishek Sharma (0) and Travis Head (1) in just 7 balls. Batsmen like Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan who came after him also could not play him.
In his 4 overs he gave only 9 runs and took 2 wickets. Overall, Shami bowled 48 balls in these two matches, in which he gave only 37 runs and took 3 wickets. But the most important thing was that he did not give any runs on 30 out of these 48 balls. Out of these, 18 dot balls came against Hyderabad only.
Will he return to the team before the World Cup?
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar did not select Shami in the last one year citing his fitness and form, while head coach Gautam Gambhir did not say anything on this matter. But in these 2 matches of IPL itself, Shami showed that he is still as prepared as he was at the time of World Cup 2023. Then Shami had taken maximum 23 wickets in just 7 matches.
Even though the next World Cup is still one and a half years away, Shami has proved that he deserves to return to the team by showing his rhythm in the IPL. At least he should be given one last chance for the World Cup 2027. Now the question is whether Agarkar-Gambhir give him a chance in the ODI series to be held after IPL or are the doors closed forever?