Mohammed Shami Snubbed Again For NZ Tour Despite Strong Domestic Form

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami continues to be sidelined from the Indian team as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced squads for the much-anticipated ODI and Test series against New Zealand and the 36-year-old's name was not included yet again.

Shami last featured in an international match back in March last year, in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy against New Zealand that India won. Notably, Shami played a key role in India's tournament win as he grabbed nine wickets in five innings at an average of 25.88.

Shami's Strong Domestic Performance

Since then, the Bengal pacer has featured in the Duleep Trophy 2026, taking seven wickets in three matches at an average of 26.57 to help East Zone clinch the title. He also claimed 37 wickets for Bengal in seven matches during the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season, at an average of 16.72. In the one match that he played in the 2026-27 season of the Ranji Trophy, Shami returned figures of 4/30 & 1/29.

Meanwhile, the right-arm pacer had modest returns in the IPL 2025 and 2026 seasons, taking six wickets in nine matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2025 and 12 wickets in 13 matches for Lucknow Super Giants in 2026. However, the speedster's strong performances in domestic cricket had raised hopes of his return to the national side, particularly for the ODI and Test formats.

Comebacks for Bhuvneshwar, Akash Deep and Kamboj

The hopes grew further after his contemporary, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, also 36, earned a recall to India's squad for the T20I series against New Zealand, which precedes the ODI and Test series. If selected to play, Bhuvneshwar could feature in his first international match for India since the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Adelaide. Since then, he has enjoyed a resurgence with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL, taking 45 wickets in 31 matches at an average of 22.55 and an economy rate of 8.52. His performances have helped RCB secure back-to-back IPL titles in 2025 and 2026.

Another player making a comeback after a considerable absence is Shami's Bengal teammate Akash Deep, who has been named in India's squad for the New Zealand Tests. He last featured in a Test match against England at The Oval in August last year. Notably, a lower-back injury kept him out of competitive cricket for nearly eight months.

Anshul Kamboj, who featured in one Test during India's 2025 tour of England before being dropped, has also earned a recall to the Indian squads. The BCCI announced the ODI and Test squads for the New Zealand tour on Friday. The two-match Test series starts November 19, following the five-match ODI series that is set to take place from November 4 to November 15.

India Squads for New Zealand Tour

India's ODI squads for New Zealand tour

First three ODIs: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan (WK), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna* and Kuldeep Yadav.

Fourth and fifth ODIs: Shreyas Iyer (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (WK, VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (WK), Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav.

India's Test squad:

Shubman Gill [C], Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul [VC], Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant [WK, availability is subject to fitness clearance], Dhruv Jurel [WK], Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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