Mohammed Shami could be flown to Australia after taking 4 in 19 overs on Ranji comeback
New Delhi, Nov 14: The beleaguered Indian team could get the Mohammed Shami boost during the challenging Australia tour after the pace-bowling stalwart made an impressive comeback from injury by grabbing four wickets in a Ranji Trophy match on Thursday.
Playing his first red-ball game in more than a year, Shami, who represents Bengal, bowled four spells across 57 overs in Madhya Pradesh's first innings and returned with figures of 19-4-54-4.
His victims included MP skipper Shubham Sharma, all-rounder Saransh Jain and two tail-enders, with three of the four batters being bowled while one edged to keeper Wriddhiman Saha.
While this is great news for the Indian team, it is understood that the national selection committee will look at how his body holds up in the second innings as well and whether there is any swelling or pain at the end of the contest, being played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
If he ticks all the boxes, it is almost assured that he will join forces with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah before the second Test, which will be a day/night affair.
The Ranji Trophy match ends on November 16 and he could join the squad before the first Test, beginning in Perth on November 22, but that could be cutting it too fine.
In case Shami goes, he will get to play a two-day day/night practice game against Prime Minister's XI.
More than the wickets he took on Thursday, the team management and national selection committee along with the BCCI's Sports Science & Medical Team want to check how his body holds up.
Shami, who has not played a competitive game after the ODI World Cup final on November 19 last year, had undergone an ankle surgery. Just when he was about to return for the three-Test series against New Zealand, the senior fast bowler developed a swelling in his knee delaying his comeback.
It is understood that despite naming an 18-member squad for Australia, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee and the team management would include Shami the moment the BCCI's head of Medical and Sports Science team, Dr Nitin Patel, declares him fit.
A Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) source told PTI that national selection committee member Ajay Ratra had specifically come along with NCA medical team head Patel to watch Shami bowl. Their feedback will be sent to chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir before a final call is taken.
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 (in the second innings). 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," the BCCI source added.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
