Mohammed Shami's brilliant return with the ball after almost 260 days confirms his ticket to Australia. Shami bowled 19 overs across four spells, claiming 4 for 54, including the wickets of MP captain Shubham Sharma, Saransh Jain, and two tail-enders, with three dismissals clean-bowled and one caught behind by Wriddhiman Saha.

While Shami’s performance bodes well for the Indian team, the selection committee is closely monitoring his fitness, particularly any signs of swelling or discomfort after the second innings. If he clears these assessments, Shami is likely to join Jasprit Bumrah for the day/night Test as India’s pace duo.

The Ranji Trophy match concludes on November 16, allowing Shami to potentially join the squad before the first Test in Perth on November 22. However, this timeline may be tight.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee likely to add Mohammed Shami to the Australia squad if BCCI’s medical head, Dr. Nitin Patel, clears him. Selector Ajay Ratra and Dr. Patel observed Shami’s Ranji game to assess his fitness. Their feedback will be shared with Agarkar, Rohit Sharma, and Gautam Gambhir. A BCCI source said Shami was included as the next Ranji round will only start on January 23, post-Test season.

A BCCI source said, "Obviously, Shami was asked to play this game keeping in mind that the next round of Ranji Trophy will only start on January 23 after the Test season is over.” 

“So, the selectors had only one match to check his fitness. He has bowled 19 overs in multiple spells and fielded for most part of the 57 overs. He bowled 90 dot balls. But he will again have to bowl and field . Suppose he bowls another 15 to 18 overs in the second innings, that's a very decent amount of overs bowled.”

"But the biggest test would be whether he again feels any pain after four days. If the NCA medical team green-lights his fitness, obviously he will join before the second Test,” concluded the source. 

After the second innings of the second day of Ranji Bengal is leading by 231 runs, as MP team is yet to bat.