Indian all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed, who made headlines for his marvelous performance for IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, is reported to have received no calls from the Cricket Association of Bengal. This includes the president of the board, the coaching staff and his teammates, according to Sportskeeda. No one is sure why Shahbaz took this sudden step.
Shahbaz Ahmed was suffering from a lateral meniscus tear and played 100 innings off 118 balls in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final against Haryana. The match which was held on December 11, was Shahbaz’s last match for Bengal and since then he has not represented the state. Ahmed went to the National Cricket Academy for treatment, during which things between him and his condition became strange.
Shahbaz Ahmed had to join the Bengal team camp for the third or fourth match of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24. However, his sudden visit to the NCA has become a cause of concern for the Bengal Cricket Association. This forced the CAB to write about the same to the NCA, but their report did not satisfy the CAB.
Shahbaz Ahmed likely to miss Ranji Trophy 2023-24 for Bengal
A lateral meniscus tear takes a total of 7-8 weeks to recover, but according to Bengal Cricket Association president Shahbaz Ahmed, it is taking longer than that. Snehasish Ganguly, while talking to Sportskeeda, revealed that he called Shahbaz, but the cricketer did not respond to his call. Ganguly further stated that Shahbaz is what he is because of Bengal and he will be available for the team whenever they need him.
Snehasish Ganguly said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He had called him but he didn’t answer. I also wrote to the NCA with some questions about his report. We are also cricketers and we know which injury takes how much time to heal. Shahbaz is what he is because of Bengal and he should also be there when Bengal needs him.”
Bengal assistant coach Sourasish Lahiri also issued the same message against Shahbaz Ahmed and termed the entire scenario as very unfortunate. He said: “He is really unfortunate. None of us know anything about him. The president had called him and he didn’t even answer that call. I don’t know why he is doing this.”
Shahbaz Ahmed, who proved to be very useful for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, was traded to Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the 2024 edition of the cash-rich league. Shahbaz is expected to miss the remaining league matches of the Ranji Trophy, in which his team is currently 5th in Group B with 5 points.
Shahbaz Ahmed has played a total of 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is for India, where he has been able to pick 5 wickets. Ahmed was unable to showcase his talent for India and is therefore currently excluded from the team. However, Shahbaz Ahmed has been active on social media and the last post from him was six days ago. Ahmed posted a video in which he can be seen bowling in the nets. Ahmed captioned the post: “One step at a time.”