Pace bowlers hunt in packs. Sometimes, they don’t give up. That’s what the Bengal trio of Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar have been doing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The national 50-over tournament has seen totals above 350 even 400. Yet, these bowlers have shown that batters cannot have all the fun.
Jammu and Kashmir is not a star-studded side. They are no pushovers either. To knock them over for 63 was a statement of collective strength that these India discards bring to the table. Hardly any state side has three pacers who have represented India in the near or not-too-distant past. It’s a formidable unit, which is making its presence felt.
Although Shami, Akash and Mukesh represent Bengal, and none of them actually hail from the state, they hardly played together for the team. When the last two became state regulars, Shami was already an India star. After that, there were not many fixtures featuring all of them. That was due to their national and state commitments.
There was another factor this season. All three have been out of India duties for varying periods of time. When the situation permitted them to get together for domestic assignments, injuries denied that opportunity. Shami has been playing all three formats since the beginning of the 2025-26 season. But Akash and Mukesh had long periods of absence before joining him in the Bengal XI.
Now that they have come together, the results have been impressive if not telling. Mukesh was the Player of the Match in the Bengal-Chandigarh match where both teams made 300-plus. Not often does a bowler get that award in a game where batters call the shots. Mukesh did, with a five-wicket haul, and followed it up with four to become Player of the Match in the next one against J&K as well. The 32-year-old is hungry to add to his tally of three Test, six ODI and 17 T20Is caps.
Akash was the most visible of them in the India shirt in the last few months. An unsung hero of the Test series in England, where he cleaned up Joe Root with a scorcher of a delivery, the bowler aged 29 played a pivotal role in the second Test won by India. He also struck a match-shaping half-century as night-watchman in the last one.
Shami is the most-talked fast bowler in India not playing for the national team at the moment. There are factors against him. He is on the wrong side of the 30s. Fitness has been a recurring issue. The national selectors are trying to look ahead. But sample this: 20 wickets in four Ranji Trophy games; 16 in seven SMAT T20s; eight in four Vijay Hazare one-dayers so far.
These figures may not be head-turning, but evidence enough that Shami still has fire in the belly. Whether there is enough in the body, experts will tell. There is no denying whatsoever that he retains his wicket-taking skills. Used sparingly, the bowler who last played for India in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, has struck telling blows when Bengal needed them.
All this obviously doesn’t mean that Shami, Akash and Mukesh must be recalled to the Indian team right now. For right reasons perhaps, they are not in the squads for the crucial white-ball challenges including the T20 World Cup. But what they have done, or doing is they are not fading away. They are keeping the India bowlers and other aspirants on their toes. Who knows, what happens tomorrow and the door opens? They are in the reckoning. That’s what fast bowlers do in packs sometimes.
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