Mohammed Shami was not neglected in India, he played a lot: Sourav Ganguly
Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly said that Mohammed Shami was not neglected by India and played a lot for the nation. Shami has been out of the Indian team since the Champions Trophy 2025 triumph. Temper picked up nine wickets during the tournament.
Since then Shami has been fighting hard in domestic cricket and played a big role in winning Duleep Trophy East Zone. The Bengal pacer struck at crucial moments, dismissing Ravichandran Smaran and Sheikh Rasheed as the south zone were bundled out for 336 in their first innings.
The East Zone had already built up an impressive lead of 372 runs in the first innings, which eventually proved enough to earn them the Duleep Trophy.
In an interview with India Today, Ganguly pointed out how he was out of the Indian team during his playing days despite scoring over 10,000 runs and made a comeback.
The CAB president said he was not sure why Shami was not selected at this time as the performances were there. Ganguly also remained coy if Shami would return to the side in time for the 2027 World Cup.
“Day by day he is doing well in domestic cricket. I too didn’t play in the national team for a year after scoring 10,000 runs but I made a comeback. He is trying to do well, I don’t know why he wasn’t selected. But he is doing well and performing well.”
“It is difficult to comment whether he will play in the 2027 World Cup or not because the World Cup is a year later. He was not neglected. He played a lot,” Ganguly said.
The CAB boss also lauded Ishan Kishan’s performance in the Duleep Trophy final and hopes he makes a comeback in the Indian Test team.
“I spoke to Kishan this afternoon. It’s amazing and remarkable. Every young player wants to play Test cricket and hopefully he will. He played exceptionally well in all the Vijay Hazare, Syed Mushtaq Ali and Duleep Trophy finals,” Ganguly said.
Kishan last played Test cricket for India in 2023.
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Published on:
10 Sep 2026 22:03 IST