India
Mohammed Shami retires from Test cricket after 13 years and 229 wickets
The 36-year-old pacer closes his red-ball career on the 13th anniversary of his Test debut, leaving a record built on seam, resilience and comebacks.
Desh Flash desk7 November 2026, 8:50 am IST2 minUpdated 7 November 2026, 8:50 am IST
Mohammed Shami has retired from Test cricket. The India fast bowler announced the decision in an Instagram message on Friday night, 13 years to the day after his Test debut against the West Indies in Kolkata on November 6, 2013.
Shami finishes with 229 wickets in 64 Tests, including six five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/56. His last Test was against Australia in June 2023, so the announcement formalises an absence that had already lasted some time. The 36-year-old wrote that he was "bidding farewell to the white jersey, but never to the memories associated with it."
Shami framed the moment around a simple ambition. When he first pulled on the India Test shirt, he said, he wanted only to do something for his country. He added that every wicket, struggle, injury and comeback since then had taught him something. Test cricket, he wrote, was "not just a format" but a deeply special part of his life.
His thanks went to teammates, coaches, family and the fans who backed him in good times and bad. He also credited the BCCI and the Cricket Association of Bengal, his home association, for believing in his talent and giving him room to grow. For a bowler from the Bengal system, that acknowledgement ties his story to the domestic pipeline that produced him.
The 2023 ODI World Cup was the other peak of that year. Shami finished as the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets in seven innings, a reminder of how sharply he could change a match with the new ball. Together with his Test record, that gives him a lasting place among India's modern pace attack.
His message made clear that his bond with the national team goes beyond the Test format. "Even though my final Test ball has been bowled on the field," he wrote, "the pride of playing for India will always remain alive in my heart." The statement addresses only his Test career.
The retirement leaves India's red-ball setup without one of the pace bowlers who defined the last decade. Shami's numbers and his closing note on gratitude and pride make this a farewell on his own terms. Read the original report at WION News.
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