Mohammed Shami Retires From Tests With 229 Wickets From 64 Matches

Mohammed Shami retires from Tests after a 13-year red-ball career for India. The fast bowler confirmed the decision on Instagram on Friday. He chose the date himself. Friday was 6 November, 13 years to the day since he first played a Test, at Eden Gardens in 2013. He finishes with 229 wickets from 64 matches at an average of 27.71.

The announcement formalises a gap rather than creating one. Shami last played a Test in June 2023. That was the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval. ESPNcricinfo reports he has not appeared in any international format since the Champions Trophy final in March 2025.

Thirteen years to the day

His debut came against West Indies at Eden Gardens on 6 November 2013. He took nine wickets for 118 runs across that match. Sixty-three further Tests followed. None of them produced better match figures. His best single-innings return, 6 for 56, came later in the career. The debut match mark stood.

"In this 13-year journey, this cap, this ball, made me Mohammed Shami," he said in his statement. He closed it plainly. "So, let's end this 13-year journey here today. I made my debut today, and today I am taking retirement."

CricTracker reported the statement opening with a different line. "When I first wore the India Test jersey, I had just one dream," it began.

The record behind the 229

ESPNcricinfo places his 229 wickets just outside the top five among India fast bowlers. It puts his strike rate at 50.2. At home the numbers were sharper, with an average of 22.1 and a wicket every 42.6 balls. The same analysis records that India won 31 of his 64 Tests and drew 13.

• 64 Tests and 229 wickets at an average of 27.71
• Best innings figures of 6 for 56
• Six five-wicket hauls
• No ten-wicket match in 64 attempts
• Match figures of 9 for 118 on debut, his best return

Six five-wicket hauls came in those 64 matches. A ten-wicket haul never did. Nearly 45 per cent of his Test dismissals were bowled or lbw, according to ESPNcricinfo, and the same source records that he never lost a home series.

The last Test at The Oval

The 2023 World Test Championship final closed his red-ball account. India met Australia at The Oval that June. Shami has not bowled in a Test since. The ODI World Cup at home followed months later, and his international appearances after that grew scarce.

March 2025 was the last of them. He played the Champions Trophy final and then dropped out of the international game altogether, by ESPNcricinfo's account. The retirement announced on Friday covers the Test format alone.

Sixty-four Tests across ten calendar years is a modest total for a frontline seamer. The 229 wickets came at one every 50.2 balls on ESPNcricinfo's count. His home figures carried the record.

A farewell three years in waiting

The timing is the unusual part. Shami played no Test in the 2023 to 2025 World Test Championship cycle. His last red-ball appearance for India had already passed into the previous cycle by the time he announced the retirement. The decision settles a question that had been open since The Oval.

India named their Test squad for the New Zealand tour last month. Shubman Gill captains it and KL Rahul is his deputy. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Anshul Kamboj carry the seam bowling. The first of the two Tests begins on 19 November.

White-ball cricket and Bengal remain

This is a Test retirement only, and Shami said so directly. "I am leaving this, but I will continue to play white-ball cricket, whether it is IPL or domestic," he said. ESPNcricinfo reports he also left open the possibility of playing first-class cricket at home should fitness demand it, while ruling out a return to Tests.

Bengal's Ranji Trophy campaign is already under way, and Lucknow Super Giants hold his IPL contract. Domestic red-ball cricket therefore stays open to him. ESPNcricinfo noted he framed that as a question of fitness rather than a closed door.

So the red ball is not gone from his season. The India Test cap is.