Mohammed Shami Retirement: Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami failed to make the squad for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy due to fitness issues.
Even his performance in IPL 2025 was underwhelming as he picked up just 6 wickets in 9 matches. Ever since his injury post-2023 ODI World Cup, Shami has not been able to be back at his best. The pacer, who represents Bengal in the domestic circuit, will be back in action for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy.
At 34, Shami has a herculean task on his hands to make a comeback in the side. In a recent interaction with News24, Shami stated that he is motivated enough to make a comeback in the side and dismissed retirement rumours completely with a strong response.
“If someone has a problem, tell me, if it is like their lives become better if I take retirement. Tell me whose life have I become a rock in that you want me to retire? The day I get bored, I will leave. You don’t pick me, but I will keep working hard. You don’t pick me in international, I will play domestic. I will keep playing somewhere or the other. You have to make these decisions when you start feeling bored. That is not the time for me now,” Shami told News24.
Leaving nothing to imagination, Shami made his intentions clear about winning the ODI World Cup for Team India in 2027. Interestingly, Shami was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 24 wickets. His seven-wicket spell against New Zealand was instrumental in sending India to the final.
“I only have one dream left, that is to win the ODI World Cup. I want to be a part of that team and perform that wins the ODI World Cup and brings it home. We were very close in 2023. We had a gut feeling, but we also had a fear that we were winning non-stop, and it was the knockout stage. There was some fear. But the enthusiasm and belief of the fans motivated us. This was a dream that could have been fulfilled, but maybe it was not in my luck,” he said.
India’s star seamer Mohammed Shami will feature in the East Zone 15-member squad for the 2025-26 Duleep Trophy starting Thursday.
East Zone Squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran(c), Kumar Kushagra(w), Virat Singh, Sharandeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Pattnaik, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Denish Das, Sridam Paul, Aasirwad Swain, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Manishi, Utkarsh Singh