Mohammed Shami retires from Test cricket 13 years to the day after his Eden Gardens debut

Mohammed Shami has retired from Test cricket, closing a 13-year India career that brought 229 wickets from 64 matches

The fast bowler announced the decision on Friday, 6 November, exactly 13 years to the day after he made his Test debut against West Indies at Eden Gardens. He marked it with a video posted to social media, holding the India Test cap numbered 279 and a red ball.

Shami has not played a Test since the 2023 World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval, a match India lost by 209 runs. He will carry on in white-ball cricket, including the IPL.

"Today, with a heavy heart and countless beautiful memories, I'm deciding to retire from Test cricket," he wrote, thanking the BCCI and the Cricket Association of Bengal in a message that closed, "Thank you, Test Cricket."

A farewell timed to the anniversary

Shami's first Test began on 6 November 2013, when he took 4-71 and 5-47 against West Indies in Kolkata. The match return of 9-118 remains the best of his career, and India won by an innings and 51 runs.

"When I first wore India's Test jersey, it was just a dream to do something for my country," he said in the announcement.

He added that his last Test ball had already been bowled, but that "the pride of playing for India will forever stay alive in my heart".

That ball came at The Oval in June 2023. Shami took 2-122 in Australia's first innings and 2-39 in their second, and the title went to Australia.

What the record says

Shami finishes with 229 wickets from 122 innings at an average of 27.71 and an economy rate of 3.30. His best innings figures were 6-56.

He took six five-wicket hauls and never took ten in a match. At home he claimed 76 wickets at 22.10, and the greater part of his work came abroad, where he played 41 of his 64 Tests.

In Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa he took 123 wickets in 33 Tests at 31.42, and four of his six five-wicket hauls came in Australia and South Africa.

That leaves him the sixth most successful fast bowler India have had in Tests, and the country's 12th-highest wicket-taker in the format.

The wins that made the record

The clearest of those overseas returns came in Johannesburg in 2018, where Shami took 5-28 in the second innings as India won a consolation Test.

On India's next tour of South Africa he took eight wickets in the first Test at Centurion, another match India won.

Alongside the six five-wicket hauls he registered twelve four-wicket hauls, a record built on seam movement and swing with both the new ball and the old.

Three years without a red-ball cap

Ankle surgery and later knee trouble kept Shami out of the side for long stretches, and he returned to international cricket in January 2025 in T20Is.

He has not played for India in any format since the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand, and was passed over repeatedly for Test selection under head coach Gautam Gambhir, with fitness and competition for places both cited.

Shami has spent this season building a case in domestic cricket, playing three Ranji Trophy matches for Bengal.

He has also been named in Bengal's squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and has said he will play domestic cricket where he needs it to hold his fitness.

Tributes from the game

"Many congratulations on your wonderful red ball cricket career @MdShami11," wrote the former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan.

The cricket analyst Joy Bhattacharjya wrote: "Salute Shami bhai, you are one of the main reasons why India consistently started winning tests abroad!"

Shami leaves Test cricket with 229 wickets at 27.71, having bowled his last ball in the format at The Oval in June 2023.