Bengal name formidable pace attack for Ranji opener with Abhimanyu Easwaran replacing Anustup Majumdar as captain.
When the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season begins, Mohammed Shami will be part of a formidable Bengal team. The team will be headed by opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Shami will be supported in the pace department by Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, and Ishan Porel.
Anustup Majumdar has previously been selected captain of Bengal. However, it is believed that Sourav Ganguly, the former captain of India who just assumed over as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), was consulted before the last-minute alteration was made.
Since participating in the Champions Trophy in early March, Shami has not played for India. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar had cited Shami’s lack of playing time as one of the reasons he was left out of the West Indies Test team.
Shami has only played in one first-class match since the IPL 2025 ended in June, and that was for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He took one wicket while putting down 34 overs in the two innings of that match. On the last day of that match, East Zone lost after giving up a significant first-innings advantage, and Shami bowled very little in the second innings.
Mukesh and Akash Deep can also re-enter the Test selection picture during the Ranji season in preparation for the South Africa series, which begins on November 14.
Bengal open their campaign against Uttarakhand at Eden Gardens on October 15. They are placed in Group C, with Assam, Services, Tripura, Railways, Haryana and Gujarat as the other teams.