The return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the Indian team after four years has given some ray of hope to Mohammed Shami. Ever since Bhuvneshwar’s return to the Indian t20I side for the New Zealand tour next month, the question on Shami’s return has been doing the rounds across the country’s cricketing landscape.
There was a huge outcry to recall back after he picked 45 wickets from 30 IPL matches in 2025 and 2026 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (IPL). In contrast to Bhuvneshwar’s IPL heroics in the last two seasons, has largely remained a forgotten figure, taking just 18 wickets from 22 matches at an average economy rate of 10.
Notably, Bhuvneshwar’s return came just hours after former BCCI chief selector exit after three years at the helm. Not to forget, it was Agarkar who maintained Shami is not 100% fit at a time, when the Bengal veteran was taking wickets consistently in domestic cricket.
With the 2027 ODI World Cup is just less than a year to go, the Indian pacers looked flat, even against the lower-ranked teams like West Indies at home. With serving the country at Asian Games in Japan, the Indian pacers featuring Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, conceded 1052 runs in three ODIs.
Not just against the West Indies, the Indian team lost the ODI series against England 1-2 a few months back. Moreover, Mohammed Siraj too hasn’t been used on a consistent basis. With the 2027 ODI World Cup happening in South Africa most, the pitches reward fast bowlers, who generates lateral movement and bowl the hard length.
Another aspect would be Shami’s natural high-arm action, which produces seam-up movement at 140+ km/h and thrives on hard, bouncy tracks of Johannesburg, Centurion, and Durban.
Shami has been India’s best bowler in the . Having played his first ICC World Cup in 2015, Shami emerged as India’s second-highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets in seven games, with a best of 4/25 against arch-rivals Pakistan. He had also taken three-wicket hauls against Ireland and Zimbabwe in that edition.
Four years later, Shami once again blossomed in England. Having missed the first four games, Shami picked 14 wickets in four matches, including a hattrick against Afghanistan. He also took a five-wicket haul (5/69) against England, before exiting the tournament in the semifinals.
Shami’s best ODI World Cup came in 2023 at home. Once again, the Bengal pacer missed the first four games, before a Hardik Pandya injury gave him the opportunity. In the remaining seven games, Shami took 24 wickets in seven matches, including three five-wicket hauls.
In fact, Shami’s 7/57 against New Zealand in the semifinal at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, remains the best bowling figure by an Indian in ODI World Cup. Certainly, with the World Cup experience at hand, Shami deserves to be in the Indian dressing room in South Africa.
Despite his low outcomes in the last two IPL seasons, Shami has excelled in domestic cricket once he returned from a long injury lay-off in late 2024, which can’t be written off. He bloomed in the 2025-26 season across formats as Shami took 37 wickets from seven matches to play a crucial role in Bengal advancing to the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy.
He has 15 scalps from seven Vijay Hazare matches and 16 wickets from seven Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games, indicating the increasing sharpness of his craft. Shami opened the 2026-27 season also on a promising note, taking seven wickets in East Zone’s Duleep Trophy victory after 14 years.
With the Test and ODI sides for the New Zealand tour yet to be finalised, it remains to be seen whether Shami makes a comeback or not.
