The South Africa tour of India will start from 14 November, with two Tests. India has announced its squad for the same, and fans were happy to see several players back. Akash Deep, who got excluded from the West Indies series is now back for the team. Axar Patel was also named in the list, making his comeback to the Test
But there was a name which was not present despite the fans having many expectations. And it was the pacer, Mohammed Shami. Despite giving his best for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, Shami was not selected for the Test series against South Africa. Along with that, he also was not selected in the India A series against South Africa A.
1. Mohammed Shami in Ranji Trophy
There were concerns related to the fitness of Mohammed Shami. He did not play even a single game for the Indian team since the Champions Trophy 2025. When questions were raised on his fitness, Shami decided to answer back all of them with his bowling skills. For this, he
for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy 2025/26.
The team played its first match against Uttarakhand and Shami announced his comeback in style. He was able to take 3 wickets in the first innings and 4 wickets in the second innings. With this, he had already given a statement of intent to the BCCI selectors. But he wanted to give more to the domestic side in the
Bengal played its next Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat, and Shami again dominated with the ball. He took 3 wickets for the team in the first innings, followed by a five-wicket haul in the second innings. Both matches when Shami took up wickets for the team, Bengal was able to end up winning the same.
2. Shami & Agarkar’s Verbal Feud
Lately, Mohammed Shami also had a verbal feud with the BCCI Chief Selector, Ajit Agarkar. It was all related to the BCCI excluding him from the Indian team all of a sudden and citing the fitness issues. When Shami was not picked for the Australian tour, he said that selection is not in his hands but he can just
When Shami got to know that fitness has been the reason why he has been excluded, he answered the same. At that time, he said that if he can play four days in the Ranji Trophy, why can’t he bowl 10 overs in the ODI match. This raised some questions even for the BCCI Chief Selector,
In a Press Conference, Ajit Agarkar was asked upon the selection of Mohammed Shami and the statements put against Agarkar by him. To this, Agarkar emphasised on the fact that the domestic season is going on, and if Shami is able to perform well, he could be able to
back to the Indian team.
After this, Shami delivered two consecutive match winning performances for his team in the Ranji Trophy. Still, he was not selected by the BCCI for the Test series against South Africa. With another series going down for Shami, fans still wait to see when they will finally be able to watch him perform again for the team.
3. Shami’s Last Test Match
Mohammed Shami has played 64 Test matches for the Indian team. But you will be shocked to know that he has played none over the last two years and even in the previous World Test Championship cycle. His last Test appearance for the Indian team came in the World Test Championship 2023 final.
With Bumrah being unavailable for the team, Mohammed Shami continued as the frontline bowler. In the first innings, he ended up taking the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green. Later in the second innings, Shami finished by taking the wickets of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo
India ended up losing the final match by 209 runs. Despite his best efforts, Shami didn’t prove much effective for the Indian team in the final match. But his efforts cannot be ignored in the ICC events. With Shami still playing in the Ranji Trophy, it is awaited to see when he is finally named in the Test squad by the BCCI.