Amid rumors of traveling to Australia, Mohammed Shami picked in Bengal squad for SMAT 2024-25
Mohammed Shami has been picked for Bengal and will be representing his state side in the upcoming edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) amid rumors of traveling to Australia. The squad for the same was announced today, November 18.
Mohammed Shami made a return to the sport after a gap of a year. The pacer was diagnosed with an ankle injury which saw him go under the knife. He spent a couple of months in rehabilitation before returning to competitive cricket in the domestic circuit for his side, Bengal.
Playing the fifth round of matches of Ranji Trophy, Shami picked up seven wickets and scored 39 across two innings against Madhya Pradesh as Bengal registered their first win in the tournament. His fitness comes as a huge boost, with the pacer being named in the squad of this year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Sudip Gharami will be leading the side, with IPL names such as Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek Porel also featuring in the team. Bengal are placed in Group A alongside, Bihar, Hyderabad, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab and Rajasthan. Their campaign starts with the game against Punjab on November 23 with their last game of the group stages scheduled against Rajasthan on December 5.
Bengal's squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024/25: Sudip Kr Gharami (captain), Mohammed Shami, Abishek Porel (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karan Lal, Writtick Chatterjee, Ritwick Roy Chowdhury, Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Ranjot Singh Khaira, Prayas Ray Barman, Agniv Pan (wk), Pradipta Pramanik, Saksham Chaudhary, Ishan Porel, Md Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth and Soummyadip Mandal
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024/25 to kick off on November 23
The 2024/25 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy kicks off on November 23 and ends on December 5. 10 teams from the group stages will contest across nine knockout games, starting with the pre-quarterfinals on December 9, quarterfinals on December 11, semi-finals on December 13 and the finals on December 15.
The group stages will be hosted by Vishakhapatnam and Hyderabad while the knockouts will be hosted by Bengaluru. Punjab are the defending champions, winning the last edition after beating Baroda by 20 runs and securing their first title.