Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Ishant returns to Delhi, Shami named in Bengal squad

Indian veterans Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami will be in action when the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy gets underway on November 14, with the two fast bowlers named in the Delhi and Bengal squads.

Ishant, 38, has been included in Delhi’s 16-man squad for the domestic T20 tournament, while Shami, 36, features in Bengal’s 19-man squad. Their selections come at different stages of their domestic careers, with Ishant returning to the T20 line-up after a limited run in the format last season and Shami continuing to make himself available for Bengal.

Ishant has not played a Ranji Trophy match since February 2024. However, he featured for Delhi in both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season. In the T20 competition, he played three matches and picked up three wickets.

The right-handed paceman was also part of the Gujarat Titans squad in IPL 2026, which was retained by the franchise after he was bought in the 2025 auction. He appeared in seven matches for Gujarat in the 2025 season, taking four wickets, but did not get an opportunity to play in the 2026 edition.

Ishant will join Indian pacers Harshit Rana and Mayank Yadav in the Delhi team. Mayank featured in two matches during India’s recent five-match T20I series against New Zealand, returning 3 for 48 in the fourth match.

Delhi will be led by Ayush Badoni, Priyansh Arya, Yash Dhull and goalkeeper Anuj Rawat will also be in the squad. However, former captain Nitish Rana remained sidelined. Rana led Delhi in the previous edition when the team failed to progress from the group stage.

SHAMI STILL PLAYING FOR BENGAL

Shami, meanwhile, has been a regular part of Bengal’s domestic campaign. The senior pacer played three of the first four Ranji Trophy matches this season and picked up 14 wickets. He was overlooked in India’s recent tour of New Zealand but continues to feature in domestic cricket. His inclusion adds experience to the Bengal attack, which also includes Indian pacer Mukesh Kumar and all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed.

Bengal will be led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, which included Under-23 captain Shashank Singh. The youngster has made his senior debut. Shahbaz will be available for Bengal’s opening match against Karnataka.

Delhi is placed in the elite Group B alongside Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Railways, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu. They begin their campaign against Jammu and Kashmir in Indore on November 14.

Bengal is in the elite Group A with Karnataka, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Baroda, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. They will start against Karnataka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the same day.

DELHI SQUAD

Ayush Badoni (Captain), Priyansh Arya, Sarthak Ranjan, Yash Dhull, Ayush Doseja, Tejasvi (Goalkeeper), Anuj Rawat (Goalkeeper), Himmat Singh, Mayank Rawat, Keshav Dabas, Suyash Sharma, Digvesh, Ishant Sharma, Mayh.Harshit Yadaveing.

BENGAL SOCIETY

Bengal: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Sudip Gharami, Yuvraj Keswani, Aditya Purohit, Abishek Porel (wk), Shakir Gandhi (wk), Karan Lal, Pradipta Pramanik, Sourav Halder, Prayas Ray Barman, Mohammed Shami, Mukesh Ahmed Kumar, Shahbaz, S Sahbaz Irfan Aftab, Akhilesh Yadav, Rishabh Chaudhary and Shashank Singh.

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