Bengal will face Uttarakhand at home for their first Ranji Trophy 2025/26 clash.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2025/26. Bengal’s first clash will take place at home, Eden Gardens, against Uttarakhand, starting on October 15. Youngster Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead the side, which includes India veteran Mohammed Shami.
Shubman Gill & Co. are currently involved in a two-match Test series against the West Indies. Akash Deep, who was present in the last Test series on the England tour, is not featuring in the home series. Earlier, he had also missed the Duleep Trophy due to an injury. The 28-year-old would look to work on his fitness and be available for selection when India host South Africa for two Tests next month.
Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran will also look to send a strong message to the selectors to be included in the playing XI for the upcoming Test series. Oftentimes, the 30-year-old has been picked in the squad, but is yet to make his Test debut.
Under Manoj Tiwary in the last season of the Ranji Trophy, Bengal narrowly missed out on the qualifications. The team ended third on the points table with two wins, two draws, and three losses, amassing 19 points. Mumbai and Andhra topped the table with 37 and 26 points respectively. Bengal has reached the Final for a record 15 times. However, they have only two trophies from the 1938/39 and 1989/90 seasons.
Abhimanyu Easwaran (captain), Abishek Porel (Vice Captain/WK), Akash Deep, Vishal Bhati, Sudip Chatterjee, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Sumanta Gupta, Anustup Majumdar, Habib Gandhi (WK), Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Saurabh Kr Singh, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Porel, Kazi Junaid Saifi, and Sumit Mohanta.
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The 35-year-old pacer last donned the India jersey in white-ball cricket. After his injury in 2023, he returned to action for the Champions Trophy 2025 earlier this year. During India’s title-winning campaign, Mohammed Shami took nine wickets in five games. He was the team’s second-highest wicket-taker, behind Varun Chakravarthy, who also took the same number of wickets in three games and at a lower average.
After CT, Shami appeared for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, the pacer continued to look off-colour. His performance was abysmal as ever, scalping six wickets in nine games. However, the pacer continues to play and put in the hard yards.
In his 64-match-long Test career, Shami has 229 wickets to his name. In 108 ODIs, he has 206 scalps, while in T20Is, he has taken 27 wickets in 25 matches. Overall, Shami has had a decent run as a bowler for India. He has stood up for the team, especially in ICC events. But with age not on his side, it’s difficult to say if Shami will play for India ever again.
On the other hand, India’s bench strength is the best in the world. Despite spearhead bowler Jasprit Bumrah, India has won Test matches overseas with the pace attack consisting of the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, and the other Bengal pacer, Akash Deep. India are also grooming Arshdeep Singh, a left-arm pacer.
Recently, Karun Nair, a middle-order batter for Vidarbha, was given a chance after his phenomenal performances in the previous Ranji Trophy season. However, the 33-year-old couldn’t take advantage of his opportunities in England and is eventually sitting out of the current Test squad. Thus, the selectors may not go that route again. With a young captain and a relatively younger team, the management would rather gamble with younger players for squad selection.
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