Mohammed Shami, one of the architects of India’s series win in Australia in 2018-19, could well be in the flight to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, after the star quick was cleared for competitive return after being out of action for nearly a year.

Shami’s return to action was confirmed after Bengal named the fast bowler in the squad for the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore starting Wednesday.

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“In a major boost to Indian cricket and the Bengal Ranji Trophy team, star pacer Mohammed Shami will make a comeback into competitive cricket for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match in Indore starting on Wednesday,” stated Naresh Ojha, the secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal in a statement.

Shami, who has been out of competitive action since India’s ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad last November due to an ankle injury and the subsequent surgery, will aim to prove his fitness in a real match situation after undergoing intense rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He spent the better part of the year recuperating at the National Cricket Academy.

Ojha said Shami will spearhead the Bengal pace bowling unit, and as such his performance in the game will be closely monitored by the Indian thinktank in Australia.

Shami’s inclusion in the Bengal team will not just be a big boost but also lift the morale of the entire team, which aims to make it to the next round of the Ranji Trophy. Bengal, who are currently in the fifth spot in the points table with eight points from four games, bagged three crucial points from their last match against Karnataka.

Shami had been on track for a return during the Bangladesh series at home in September, and was in line to be considered for the season-opening Duleep Trophy in September, until he suffered what Rohit Sharma later termed as a “recent setback” due to a swelling on his left knee that “put him back a little bit in his recovery.”

While there was intense speculation surrounding Shami’s inclusion in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, skipper Sharma had struck down such talks saying he did not prefer taking an “undercooked” pacer Down Under.

As a result, the Indian selectors opted for a largely untested pace attack for the challenging tour with rookies such as Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasidh Krishna backing the seniors in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed in the reserves, but all of them come with minimal exposure to Test cricket.

A decent show against MP, more in terms of fitness, could thus bring Shami back into contention for the Australia series, even though he will only have a solitary Ranji Trophy match to assess himself before the first phase of the multi-day format pauses to make way for the domestic white ball tournaments.

Shami had played a big role in India’s historic 2-1 Test series victory in 2018-19 against Australia, claiming 16 wickets at an average of 26.18. While the star quick is unlikely to feature in the first Test, starting November 22 in Perth, he could be added to the team for the rest of the tour.

And in case, the pacer isn’t picked for the Australia tour, allowing him to get back to regain full match fitness, it’s likely his comeback could be during the white-ball series at home against England in January in the run-up to next year’s ICC Champions Trophy.