Mohammed Shami took nine wickets on his Test debut, and 13 years to the day he has retired from Test cricket
The India fast bowler announced on Instagram on Friday that he is finished with Test cricket after 229 wickets in 64 Tests. He will keep playing white-ball cricket, including the IPL.
Nov 7, 2026
Mohammed Shami was handed his India Test cap on 6 November 2013, before the first Test against West Indies at Eden Gardens. On Friday, 6 November 2026, exactly 13 years later, he posted a video on Instagram announcing his retirement from Test cricket.
The 36-year-old spoke in the video about saying goodbye to the white jersey, though not to the memories that came with it. He talked about the falls and the injuries along the way, and about getting back up each time. He thanked his coaches, strength trainers, physios, his family and the fans who stayed with him.
229 wickets from 64 Tests
Shami finishes with 229 wickets in 64 Tests at an average of 27.71. He took six five-wicket hauls, and the best of them, 6 for 56, came against Australia in Perth in December 2018. That total leaves him just outside India’s top five fast bowlers by Test wickets.
He was good straight away. On debut he took 4 for 71 and then 5 for 47, a match haul of 9 for 118 that is still the best of his Test career, and India beat West Indies by an innings and 51 runs. Eden Gardens was home ground by then. Born in Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, he had moved to Bengal and made his first-class debut for them against Assam at the same ground in November 2010.
His home numbers are the ones that stand out. In India he averaged 22.1 with a strike rate of 42.6, according to ESPNcricinfo, which also points out that India never lost a home series with him in the side and that close to 45% of his Test wickets were bowled or lbw. He hit the seam and went for the stumps, and once the ball got old it reversed.
A long goodbye
The white shirt had been gone for a while. Shami’s last Test was the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval in June 2023, and his last match of any kind for India was the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand in Dubai in March 2025. Injuries cost him much of the time in between, and the selectors moved on.
He kept trying to change their minds. On the first day of this Ranji Trophy season, on 11 October in Kalyani, he bowled 17.3 overs, nine of them maidens, and took 4 for 30 against Delhi. He finished with five wickets in the match as Bengal won by nine wickets. Within a week the selectors had named their squads for the tour of New Zealand, and he was in none of them.
Still playing white-ball cricket
This is not a full retirement. Shami will carry on in white-ball cricket, in the IPL and in domestic tournaments, and he may still play some red-ball games for Bengal to keep his fitness up. Test cricket is the only thing he has given up.
His IPL side is Lucknow Super Giants, who traded him in from Sunrisers Hyderabad before the 2026 season. The timing matters. All ten franchises have until 17 November to submit their retentions and releases ahead of the 2027 auction in Goa, so the next question is whether Lucknow keep a 36-year-old who has just narrowed his game down to the formats they need him for.
India’s two Tests in New Zealand start on 19 November. Shami was never going to be on that plane, and now the argument about whether he should have been is over for good.