Fit-again Shami picked for Vijay Hazare Trophy

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami has been named in Bengal's squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, after recovering from the knee injury he had picked up during the Australia tour last December. He had felt some discomfort in his left knee as early as the first Test in Adelaide but bowled through pain in the 2015 World Cup, where he was India's second-highest wicket-taker, taking 17 scalps at 17.29.

Shami, who has been sidelined from all competitive cricket since March, underwent surgery after returning from the World Cup and spent his rehabilitation period at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. He was then picked among 30 players to be part of a preparatory camp ahead of the South Africa series in September. However, Shami had not regained full fitness then and was not included in either limited-overs or Test squads against South Africa.

Shami, who had also missed the league phase of the Ranji Trophy, though, hoped that the Vijay Hazare trophy would help him shake off the rust and return to the Indian team, whose next assignment is a five-match ODI series in Australia, starting January 12.

"I am back after eight months, so I am taking it slow and easy... I am gearing up to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It will be a good preparation going into the limited overs series against Australia," Shami told PTI.

Bengal, who start their campaign against Goa on December 10, will also be boosted by the return of Wriddhiman Saha from national duty. They have been placed in Group D with Goa, Himachal Pradesh, UP, Madhya Pradesh, and Saurashtra.

Squad: Manoj Tiwary (captain), Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha, Sudip Chatterjee, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sayan Sekhar Mondal, Sreevats Goswami, Pankaj Shaw, Debabrata Das, Aamir Gani, Pragyan Ojha, Mohammed Shami, Ashok Dinda, Mukesh Kumar, Sayan Ghosh, Pradipta Pramanik, Alok Pratap Singh