Kolkata, Dec 19 (PTI) Veteran India pacer Mohammad Shami will be rested for Bengal's Vijay Hazare Trophy opener against Delhi on Saturday in Hyderabad, the Cricket Association of Bengal announced on Thursday.

Shami, who last played for India at the 2023 ODI World Cup, recently returned to domestic cricket after a lengthy injury layoff due to ankle surgery.

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He has since been recuperating at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

While Shami made an impressive comeback taking seven wickets to help Bengal clinch their first win of in this season's Ranji Trophy, he took nine wickets in the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

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However, concerns have remained about swelling on his knee, which surfaced during the domestic T20 competition.

After the drawn third Test in Brisbane, Rohit Sharma sounded miffed after being persistently asked about an update on Shami's availability.

"I think it's high time somebody from NCA talks about him, where he is rehabbing... Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update."

"I understand he's playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. We won't take any risks unless we are 200% sure about his fitness.”

Shami's participation in the Vijay Hazare Trophy is seen as a key step towards determining his availability for the upcoming international assignments, including the Champions Trophy.

Seamer Mukesh Kumar, who was in Australia as one of the bowling reserves, is also part of the Sudip Kumar Gharami-led Bengal.

Bengal Squad: Sudip Kumar Gharami (captain), Mohammed Shami, Anustup Majumdar, Abishek Porel (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Karan Lal, Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Sumanta Gupta, Subham Chatterjee, Ranjot Singh Khaira, Pradipta Pramanik, Kaushik Maity, Vikas Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Saksham Chaudhary, Rohit Kumar, Mohammed Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth. 7/21/2024

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