"Find any Indian bowler close to me," Mohammed Shami hits back the perception of "not-a-T20-bowler"

Out-of-favor Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami has now called the idea of him being called not capable as a T20 player. Mohammed Shami is currently a part of the domestic circuit and has never played an international match since early 2025. His last T20 international match was in February last year, when India played against England at Mumbai, as a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah.

In a recent podcast with Shubhankar Mishra, Shami answers the confusions by asking to take a look at his numbers. He even asked someone to find any Indian bowler who is close to him. Shami said,

“I don’t think anyone needs to count the numbers. I believe if you have the talent and the skill, why judge by the numbers? If you are performing for your team on any and every platform, then you are not inferior to anybody. About the IPL, you can pick up the records, agar koi Indian bowler mere aas paas bhi ho toh (if you can find any Indian bowler who’s even close to me), even then I am ‘not a T20 bowler’. It’s okay. In the last five-six years, I have 130 wickets. What more do you want?"

Following the T20 outing, he even played the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubia, where he took 9 wickets in just 5 matches. During the opening game against Bangladesh, he took 5/53, becoming the fastest bowler to reach 200 ODI wickets and the highest wicket-taking Indian in ICC tournaments.

The Champions Trophy final in March was the final international match Shami played till now.

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The domestic dominance, ft: Md Shami

Mohammed Shami’s 2025–26 domestic season has been nothing short of a statement. Turning out for Bengal, the veteran pacer bagged 67 wickets across formats, including 36 in the Ranji Trophy at a stunning average of 16.52, highlighted by a career-best 8/90 against Jammu and Kashmir.

He was equally sharp in white-ball cricket, picking 16 wickets in the SMAT and 15 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, while also smashing a quickfire 53 in the Ranji quarter-final.

Yet, despite proving his fitness and rhythm, the Ajit Agarkar-led selectors have continued to back a younger pace core. Now at Lucknow Super Giants, IPL 2026 offers Shami his biggest route back, with them facing Delhi Capitals on April 1.