Mohammed Shami retires from Test cricket 13 years to the day after his debut; 229 wickets in 64 Tests

With his Test cap, No. 279, and a red ball in hand, Mohammed Shami ended his Test career on Friday, 6 November, 13 years to the day after his debut at Eden Gardens. He made the announcement on Instagram, in a video recorded at his farmhouse in Amroha district, Uttar Pradesh.

Shami, 36, finishes with 229 wickets in 64 Tests, averaging 27.71, and took five in an innings six times. Only five Indian fast bowlers have more: Kapil Dev (434), Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma (311 each), Javagal Srinath (236) and Jasprit Bumrah (234).

“I am leaving the white jersey, but never the memories connected to it,” he wrote, thanking the Cricket Association of Bengal and the BCCI. White-ball cricket goes on, at domestic level and in the IPL. He said four-day games at home remained possible, but that his international Test career was over.

Nine wickets on debut, five at Visakhapatnam

He took four for 71 and five for 47 in that first match in 2013, against West Indies. Nine for 118 stayed his best in a Test, and India’s margin was an innings and 51 runs.

Another five-wicket haul came on Telugu soil. At Visakhapatnam in October 2019, South Africa were chasing 395 when Shami took five for 35 in 10.5 overs, four of the five bowled. They were all out for 191, a 203-run defeat.

The ICC’s account of his career puts his away record at 145 wickets from 41 Tests at 30.33. Five for 28 at Johannesburg in 2018 helped India to their only win of that series.

A last Test with Siraj and Bharat

Shami’s final Test was the 2023 World Test Championship final, played against Australia at The Oval. Hyderabad’s Mohammed Siraj took four for 108 in Australia’s first innings and Andhra’s KS Bharat kept wicket. Australia took the title by 209 runs. He last played for India in any format at the Champions Trophy final in March 2025.

In the IPL he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2025, and a trade moved him to Lucknow Super Giants before the 2026 season. For Bengal this season he has 14 wickets in three Ranji Trophy games, and he is in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad for the T20 competition that begins on 14 November. All 10 IPL franchises must settle their retention lists by 17 November.