When the game gets challenging, Mohammed Shami steps up to remind how to keep fighting

It has been a year-and-a-half since Mohammed Shami has worn the national jersey, but in that time, he has renewed his relationship with domestic cricket. | Photo Credit: R RAGU

Precious few deliveries in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final did anything off the pitch, so R. Smaran can perhaps count himself unlucky that he got one of the few that did.

Mohammed Shami – playing his 100th First-Class match – charged in from over the stumps, angling the ball into the left-hander, who planted his foot forward to meet the ball with the full face of the bat. However, it deviated ever-so-slightly away, just far enough to kiss the outside edge of the blade before nestling into Kumar Kushagra’s gloves.

The wicket was emblematic of yet another impressive performance from the veteran speedster, who walks away from the domestic season-opener with seven wickets at 26.57 and a second Duleep Trophy title to his name.

Battling against a flat pitch and brutal Chennai heat, he found reverse-swing and produced the key breakthroughs for his team, a display he said was product of his accuracy.

“My approach was strictly about sticking to my line and length. I trust my line and length completely, and that’s where I try to create wickets from,” he told the media after the final. “And honestly, if you can’t reverse-swing in this heat, what’s the point?”

“The real test is when conditions don’t suit you—that’s when delivering for your team matters most. That’s when your skill is tested in its purest form. Whenever challenging situations arise, I want to put my hand up and deliver for the side.”

It has been a year-and-a-half since Shami has worn the national jersey, but in that time, he has renewed his relationship with domestic cricket. He regularly featured for Bengal in all three formats last year, and his return was fuelled by a hunger evident to those around him.

“It is hard when you are not regularly playing for the Indian team, and have to again have that same kind of motivation for your domestic games, but I feel I see that hunger in him,” his East Zone skipper Ishan Kishan said ahead of the final.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla, his head coach for Bengal last season, made a similar observation. “For a player of his stature, he’s still motivated and he’s still performing well,” he noted. “He still has the hunger to play and the hunger to bowl.”

The 35-year-old himself explained that hunger after the match.

“I always say this: you play for the badge. When you wear that crest on your chest, the level of cricket doesn’t matter. If you play for the badge, that hunger will naturally show. Your willingness to fight only grows when you play with that pride,” he said.

“My mindset is simple: whichever level I get an opportunity to play, I want to make it count and fulfill my responsibility toward the team.

According to Shukla, who featured in Shami’s domestic debut back in 2010, the 35-year-old remains unchanged as a person between now and then. “His attitude has always been the same,” he said.

“Between that day (his debut) and today in 2026, there has been no change. The best part is that he looks very determined, and he’s getting better and better by the day.”

His fitness, he also noted, was immaculate. “You couldn’t tell the difference between a 25–27-year-old and him,” Shukla said. “We felt that he was very fit and well-maintained, and just like in his younger days, he was bowling with all his heart and passion.”

Shami himself described his attitude as a necessary part of being successful at the top level, saying, ”There are plenty of reasons to stay motivated if you look for them. You can draw positivity from any ground you step onto.

At this level, if you aren’t self-motivated, your approach is wrong. No matter what stage you’re playing at, your eyes must always be set on the next level.”

Mohammed Shami says the youngsters nowadays mature early since they feature in IPL and other high-pressure tournaments. | Photo Credit: K MURALI KUMAR

Over the course of his time with Bengal, Shami also acted as the senior pacer in an impressive bowling group that also featured Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal. It was a role he excelled in.

“It’s incredibly important to be a senior bowler in the field like he does,” Shukla said. “He would talk about how to read game situations, how to do things like maintain and polish the ball. He does all of these things very well in the field.”

He has played a similar role for East Zone over the course of the Duleep Trophy, though he noted that he had little to teach many of them. “Most of these youngsters are already quite mature. With the level of cricket they play today – featuring in the IPL and other high-pressure tournaments – maturity comes early, so you don’t need to over-coach them,” he said with a smile.

“When the game gets tight and challenging, that’s when you step in with tactical inputs and remind them to keep fighting.”

Shami’s performances in the Duleep Trophy make the prospect of seeing him charging in with the red ball in national colours a tantalising one. While it appears that the 36-year-old is out of selection contention, his showing in Chennai is an indication that there is much more to go from him.

Published on Sep 10, 2026

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