Showing no signs of rust, Mohammed Shami carried Bengal to the quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy by smashing a game-changing 17-ball-32 and bowling 13 dot balls in his four overs that paved way for his team’s thrilling three-run win against Chandigarh Bengaluru on Monday. With no clarity over his international comeback, the 34-year-old played his eighth SMAT T20 game in 16 days and has bowled his full quota in almost all the games. On the day, he first used long handle to a good effect, taking 19 runs off seasoned Sandeep Sharma’s final over as Bengal reached 159 for 9 after tottering at 114 for 8.

He crunched two sixes and three fours, mostly flashing through point region but the final wicket stand of 21 off 10 balls with Sayan Ghosh proved crucial.

Veteran Kolkata Maidan slinger Ghosh (4/30), who is known to be a death overs specialist, bowled a brilliant final over where 11 runs were required as Nikhil Sharma’s planning went all awry. Chandigarh were restricted to 156 for 9.

Shami looked bowling fit

Having already warmed up nicely by facing 17 deliveries, Shami bowled a very good first spell and removed opener Arsalan Z Khan off the very third delivery, caught by Shakir Habib Gandhi.

Compared to his first Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh where he looked overweight and slightly paunchy despite bowling 42 overs, Monday’s Shami looked leaner and the famous upright seam presentation was very much there.

During the Ranji match, many experts debated how his follow-through, which is pretty straight post delivery, was ending towards cover which is an indication that he was unable to complete his action.

But on Monday, the follow-through looked way more straighter than that comeback game.

He bowled at an average speed of 135 clicks with one delivery cranking in the range of 139 kmph. During the first spell of three overs, he went for only 11 runs which included one lofted boundary by Manan Vohra and a streaky four by Amrit Lal Lubana, who was hurried into a stroke that became a Chinese cut.

In the final over which was the penultimate of the innings, he was picked for a boundary and a six when he tried a slowish off-break which was picked by Jagjit Singh Sandhu.

In all, Shami has now played nine domestic games — one Ranji Trophy (42.3 overs) and eight SMAT T20 games (31.3 over). He has bowled a total of 64 overs and taken 16 wickets.

Is Shami fit for Test level?

He looks pretty much on course even though it is a four-over format but in a Test match as a premier bowling partner of Jasprit Bumrah, he would be expected to bowl at least three if not four spells of 20 overs in a day on an average. He would also need to field 100 overs.

It is believed that national selectors are willing to pick him as and when he is deemed fit but there is a discussion in the BCCI corridors that the veteran speedster himself has told the NCA medical team that “he is still not Test match ready”.

He has been telling his assessors that he has no problems while bowling but feels a bit of swelling in his knee after matches, something that Test skipper Rohit Sharma also mentioned in his media interaction after losing the Adelaide Test.

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‘Let’s not doubt Rohit Sharma’s ability to bounce back’, retorted the legendary Kapil Dev, who also felt that under-fire India skipper doesn’t need to prove himself at this stage of his career. Rohit, who managed scores of 3 and 6 in the the Adelaide pink-ball Test after dropping down the batting order, is being criticized by fans and former players for being subdued. India lost the game by 10 wickets in just two and a half days.

“He doesn’t have to prove himself. He has done this for many, many years, so let’s not doubt somebody. I won’t doubt him. I hope his form comes back, that’s important,” Kapil said during the launch of the Vishwa Samudra Open, a PGTI event set to begin at the Delhi Golf Club on Tuesday.

Rohit had missed the opening Test due to the birth of his second child.

Despite scoring most of his runs as an opener, the 37-year-old dropped down to the number six position, offering the top spot to KL Rahul, who played a pivotal role in the Perth win.

“With one or two performances, if you doubt someone’s captaincy, I mean, just six months back when he won the T20 World Cup, you wouldn’t have asked me this question. Let it go, knowing his ability and talent, he will come back. They will come back strongly.” Asked if it was a mistake to include young Harshit Rana in the second Test, Kapil said: “I am a nobody. How can I judge? There are people up there who have the responsibility to decide who should be in the team.” “We shouldn’t talk. My former colleagues are sitting there, and I hope they will do a good job.” In Rohit’s absence, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah had led India to a 295-run in Perth.

Asked if Bumrah is shaping up well to take over the reins from Rohit, Kapil said: “I think it is too early to talk about that. With one performance, you can’t say he is the best, and with one bad performance, you can’t say he doesn’t deserve it.

“Let a player play a lot of cricket, take on a lot of captaincy. Ups and downs will come, and then you judge a person by how he reacts in difficult times, not in good times. In good times, we don’t have to judge. When he is down and out…” Virat Kohli, who also looked subdued coming into the five-Test series in Australia, managed to hit his first hundred in 18 months in Perth. However, the star batter failed in the second Test with scores of 7 and 11 in his two innings.

“Like Virat Kohli, he is one of the best cricketers in our country. If you put the four top batsmen, he will be there. If he is going through a rough time, it is only up to him how fast he can bounce back,” Kapil said.

Kambli needs to go back to rehab

Former India batter Vinod Kambli has been struggling with alcohol-related and other health issues. He appeared frail during a recent public event held in memory of legendary coach Ramakant Achrekar. He was seen refusing to let go of his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar.

Kapil expressed sadness over Kambli’s condition, emphasising the need for self-help alongside external support.

“We should all try to support him. But more than us, he has to support himself. We can’t look after anybody if that person can’t look after himself,” Kapil said.

“All the cricketers feel very sad about what we have seen. I wish his closest friends can try to get him some help, to look after himself, to go back to rehab. People do get this illness, but you have to get back to rehab.”

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India was on Sunday drawn in a tricky group along with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Singapore for the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers final round matches, beginning March 25 next year. The draw, which saw 24 teams divided into six groups of four, was held at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Only the six group winners will qualify for the main tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027 and join the 18 teams who have already booked their tickets after the second round of qualifying.

The final round will be contested over six match days in a home-and-away format between March 25, 2025 and March 31, 2026.

Aiming to qualify for the third successive time, India will begin its Group C campaign at home against Bangladesh.

India is the highest-ranked team in the group at 127, followed by Hong Kong (156), Singapore (161) and Bangladesh (185). But, they won’t be easy opponents.

India has faced all three opponents in the recent past. The Blue Tigers last faced Bangladesh (1-1 draw) in the 2021 SAFF Championship, Hong Kong (India won 4-0) in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Kolkata in June 2022, and Singapore (1-1 draw) in the Hung Thinh Friendly Tournament in Vietnam in September 2022.

After the draw, India head coach Manolo Marquez said, “We are a Pot 1 team and we need to show why we are the favourites to qualify. There are not too many differences between groups. Every group is difficult.

“Hong Kong has improved a lot with naturalised players and with their coach Ashley Westwood.

“We will play against Bangladesh first in March, who have been our regular opponents in the SAFF Championship. We know the calendar. We have six games and we need to top the group and qualify for the Asian Cup.” India’s fixtures: March 25, 2025: India vs Bangladesh (home) June 10, 2025: Hong Kong vs India (away) October 9, 2025: India vs Singapore (home) October 14, 2025: Singapore vs India (away) November 18, 2025: Bangladesh vs India (away) March 31, 2026: India vs Hong Kong (home).

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