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Mohammed Shami made a triumphant comeback with a four-wicket haul for Bengal on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Thursday.
Shami, playing his first competitive match after a long injury lay-off of nearly a year, impressed with figures of 4/54 in 19 overs to help bundle out MP for 167 in their first innings.
The 34-year-old fast bowler went wicketless in 10 overs bowled on the opening day before his four-wicket burst triggered MP's batting collapse on the second day.
After getting the ball to swing quite a bit on a green top and beating the bat quite a few times, his first breakthrough came when he bowled Madhya Pradesh captain Shubham Sharma for eight off an inside edge in the 40th over.
He then produced a beauty as left-hander Saransh Jain was bowled for seven. He then wrapped up the tail, getting the wickets of Kumar Kartikeya and Kulwant Khejroliya off successive deliveries. Courtesy of Shami, Bengal grabbed a handy first-innings lead of 61 runs as MP lost their last nine wickets for 61 runs.
This is the first time that Shami bowled alongside his younger brother Mohammed Kaif, who is a fast bowler for Bengal. Kaif was also among the wickets, picking up 2/41 in 13 overs.
Shami was last seen in action in India's ODI World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad on November 19 last year.
If Shami continues his fine showing with the ball in the next couple of games for Bengal, he could be rushed to Australia to join the Indian team for the Border-Gavaskar trophy.