Shami's Test career ended in 2023. He just chose the date

Mohammed Shami got his India Test cap on 6 November 2013. On 6 November 2026 he posted a video on Instagram and gave it back.

That's the neat part. The less neat part is that his last Test was the World Test Championship final in June 2023, and he hasn't played any international cricket since the Champions Trophy final in March 2025. India stopped picking him a while ago, so this retirement makes official something that was already true.

He still deserves a proper send-off, though. Very few Indian fast bowlers have been this good.

Indian pitches are supposed to be where fast bowlers just survive until the spinners come on. Shami averaged 22.1 at home. According to ESPNcricinfo, only three Indian bowlers have a better home strike rate than his 42.6.

He also got more wickets per Test at home than away. Take his 145 away wickets out of the 229 and that leaves 84 in 23 home Tests, or about 3.7 a match, compared with about 3.5 away. He was very good overseas too, but it was at home that he stood out.

The reason is simple. He bowled at the stumps with an upright seam and a wobble, and on slow, low pitches that is very hard to play. Nearly half his wickets were bowled or lbw. He once broke Alastair Cook's stump in half during the 4-0 win over England in 2016.

229 wickets puts Shami sixth among Indian fast bowlers in Tests, just outside the top five. Javagal Srinath, who has 236, is only seven ahead. Shami played his last Test at 32. With another 18 months of Tests he would almost certainly have passed Srinath.

It didn't happen because his body kept breaking down, and once that kept happening the team management planned without him. That was a sensible call, and it's also why this retirement feels like an announcement rather than a shock.

Shami isn't stopping altogether. He said he'll keep playing white-ball cricket, in the IPL and in domestic cricket, and that he may still play some first-class matches for Bengal to stay fit. He played for Bengal earlier this week.

The timing also matters for the IPL. Franchises have until 17 November to decide who to retain before the 2027 auction, and Shami is at Lucknow Super Giants. A 36-year-old who has just stepped back from one format is an obvious candidate for release, but that may suit him. He can enter the auction as an experienced new-ball bowler without having to cope with five-day cricket as well.

Shami's Test career is easy to undersell because it overlapped with Bumrah's, and because it ended quietly in 2023. Nobody played a farewell Test for him and there was no last over.

The numbers make the case for him: 229 wickets, an average of 22.1 on pitches built for spinners, and a team that never lost a home series with him in it. He couldn't choose when he played his last Test, but he did choose to leave on his debut anniversary.