Shami bowled 35.3 overs in Bengal’s win over Delhi, and two days after his India snub he is not in their XI against Services

Mohammed Shami bowled 35.3 overs in Kalyani last week, took five wickets and helped Bengal beat Delhi by nine wickets. Two days after the selectors left him out of every India squad for New Zealand, he was not in Bengal’s XI when their second Ranji Trophy game began against Services at the Palam A Ground in New Delhi on Sunday.

The official line is rest. Bengal’s management and medical staff kept the 36-year-old out as a precaution after his workload against Delhi, according to Cricket Addictor. A report on RevSportz from Kolkata adds a twist: sources close to the team management say the call was Shami’s own. He had trained with the squad on Saturday and was expected to lead the attack.

What gave the story legs was a detail in the same Cricket Addictor report: Shami was seen walking gingerly before the toss after a session with the team physio. Nobody from Bengal has spoken about an injury.

Bengal without three frontline quicks

The timing leaves Abhimanyu Easwaran’s side short. Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep are both away with India A in New Zealand, so Bengal started at Palam without the three seamers who would normally share the new ball.

Shami’s younger brother Mohammed Kaif and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, both medium pacers, come into the XI. Shahbaz Ahmed, who missed the Delhi game, is back too, and he leads a three-man spin attack with Pradipta Pramanik and Amir Gani. That tells you how Bengal plan to get through the overs Shami would have bowled.

What Kalyani showed

The Delhi match was the best case anyone has made for Shami in months. He took 4 for 30 in 17.3 overs on the first day, nine of them maidens, as Delhi were bowled out for 240. He added one more in the second innings and finished with 5 for 72 in the match. Abhishek Porel made 149 and Bengal knocked off the 89 they needed for the loss of one wicket.

It made no difference on Friday night. India named split ODI squads and a Test squad for New Zealand, Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj were in the Test group, and Shami was in none of them. One report has put that down to the selectors’ doubts over whether his body can hold up in international cricket. A rest two days later is not going to settle that argument.

Kerala next

One report says Shami is expected back for Bengal’s next match, away to Kerala. If he plays there and gets through a long spell, the Palam game will look like what the team says it is. If he does not, a workload decision becomes a fitness story, and at 36 that is the one story Shami can least afford.

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