Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami has been selected in the Bengal team for the upcoming ODI tournament Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. Bengal announced its team on Saturday (December 14), which apart from Shami, also includes Indian bowler Mukesh Kumar. The captaincy of the team has been handed over to Sudeep Kumar Gharami.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma had said after the second Test against Australia that due to knee swelling, Shami is not able to go to Australia for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The medical staff of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) is also monitoring him. After being selected in the Bengal team, at present he is finding it difficult to go to Australia.

Bengal will play its first match in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy against Delhi on December 21 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Bengal is part of Group E along with Kerala, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Baroda and Bihar. Bengal recently lost against Baroda in the quarterfinal match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Last month, Shami returned to professional cricket after being out of action for almost a year due to injury. He returned from the Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh and played an important role in the team's victory by taking 7 wickets in the match. After this he played 9 matches for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, in which he took 11 wickets.

Bengal team for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25