Mohammed Shami bowled nine maidens in Kalyani, and Delhi were all out for 240 on the Ranji Trophy’s first day
Shami took 4 for 30 as Bengal bowled Delhi out on day one of their Ranji Trophy opener. Hrithik Shokeen’s 56 from number eight got Delhi past 200.
Oct 11, 2026
Mohammed Shami bowled 17.3 overs at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani on Sunday, 11 October, and nine of them were maidens. He finished with 4 for 30, the last of them ending Delhi’s first innings for 240 in the 78th over on the opening day of Bengal’s Ranji Trophy season.
Abhimanyu Easwaran had won the toss and chosen to bowl. Bengal did not face a ball before stumps.
Three wickets for 12
Delhi’s top order never got going. Akash Deep bowled Sanat Sangwan in the sixth over, and Shami had Yash Dhull caught behind by Abishek Porel for 9 to make it 26 for 2. Sarthak Ranjan and Ayush Doseja took the score to 73 before Aamir Gani had Ranjan caught behind for 33, which took him 80 balls.
Doseja looked the most settled of Delhi’s top six. He hit six fours in 45 from 92 balls, but then three wickets went for 12 runs, and the last of them was his. Mukesh Kumar had the captain, Ayush Badoni, caught behind for 23 at 114, Akash Deep trapped Anuj Rawat lbw for a two-ball duck in the next over, and Shami then had Doseja lbw. Delhi were 126 for 6 in the 42nd over.
Shokeen’s fifty from number eight
Hrithik Shokeen is the reason Delhi got past 200. Batting at eight, he made 56 from 98 balls with three fours and two sixes, and shared stands of 40 with Divij Mehra and 43 with Navdeep Saini. Shami broke the first of those by bowling Mehra for 24. Gani trapped Saini lbw for 11, and Shami came back to have Shokeen caught by Sudip Chatterjee and finish it.
Gani ended with 3 for 45, Akash Deep with 2 for 74 and Mukesh with 1 for 43.
Back at the ground where he took eight
Kalyani is where Shami returned the best figures of his first-class career. In last season’s semi-final against Jammu and Kashmir in February, he took 8 for 90 there. It didn’t save Bengal, who were bowled out for 99 in their second innings, and J&K went on to win their first Ranji Trophy title.
Shami turned 36 in September and has not played for India since the 2025 Champions Trophy. 17.3 overs for 30 on the first day of a new season is the kind of spell that keeps his name in the conversation, whatever the selectors end up doing with it.