Shahbaz Ahamad played for India, won an Asian Games gold medal, and then watched everything collapse in a matter of months.
“My lowest point came when I was playing for India. I unfortunately got injured. I missed six months of cricket because I got a sports hernia and also a cartilage issue in the knee.”
Shahbaz Ahamad, Sportskeeda exclusive, IPL 2026
“And when you miss an entire season, you don’t get considered. My IPL performance in my final year at RCB in 2023 didn’t go well either. So, everything happened all at once, and I got sidelined from the Indian team.”
Shahbaz Ahamad, Sportskeeda exclusive, IPL 2026
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Not one thing ended his India career. A sports hernia after the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Cartilage damage in the knee discovered alongside it. Surgery in Germany. Six months away from competitive cricket. By the time he returned, the selectors had moved on.
His final IPL season at RCB in 2023 produced no argument for selection. The numbers offered nothing to hold onto. He was traded to Sunrisers Hyderabad, then bought by Lucknow Super Giants at the 2025 mega auction for Rs 2.40 crore. Three franchises in three years is not a vote of confidence.
The fall is sharper when you know how close the whole thing came to never starting.
In August 2022, Shahbaz was eating biryani with Bengal teammate Karan Lal when former chief selector Chetan Sharma called. Washington Sundar was injured. Shahbaz was in the India ODI squad for the Zimbabwe tour.
Then his passport turned out to be expired.
“I genuinely gave up hope; I was heartbroken when I was supposed to be happy. I was like, ‘Arey yaar, mujhe ek mauka mila hai Indian team mein. Woh bhi nikal gaya’.”
Shahbaz Ahamad, Sportskeeda exclusive, on nearly missing his first India call-up
A West Bengal Police inspector helped him get a replacement passport on the same day. He made the tour. Two months later, he made his ODI debut against South Africa at Ranchi, cap number 247. He took 3 wickets across 3 ODIs. At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, he made his T20I debut against Bangladesh and won a gold medal.
That was the peak. The injuries came next.
Before India, before RCB, before any of it, Shahbaz was washing dishes in Kolkata. He had left his civil engineering studies in Haryana and moved 1,500 kilometres east to chase cricket with no money and no contacts. He lived in club quarters and cleaned utensils to support himself while training.
Tapan Memorial Club gave him his first real opportunity under coach Partha Pratim Chowdhury. He scored six centuries in seven Division 1 club matches. Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary mentored him. By the time he made his Ranji Trophy debut, he had earned the nickname “Jaanbaaz” for the way he performed under pressure.
In January 2021, he took a hat-trick against Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. He was the seventh Bengal bowler to achieve it, and the first since Mohammed Shami. Weeks later, he took three wickets in one over against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL for RCB. The trajectory was straight up.
The Double Injury That Changed Everything
The sports hernia struck after the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in late 2024. The knee cartilage issue was discovered at the same time. Shahbaz flew to Germany for surgery and did not play competitive cricket for approximately six months.
He missed the Vijay Hazare Trophy entirely. He missed the second half of the Ranji Trophy season. In Indian cricket’s selection ecosystem, six months of absence erases you from the conversation. Domestic performances are the currency of recall, and he had none to show.
The IPL compounded the problem. His 2023 season at RCB produced no case for selection. Unlike Hardik Pandya, who was dropped despite scoring 900 runs, Shahbaz had neither the runs nor the profile to survive a prolonged absence. When the BCCI reviewed its injury management protocols, he was already off the radar.
What followed was the most dominant domestic season of his career.
In the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, Shahbaz completed a rare double: 363 runs at an average of 45.37 and 35 wickets at an average of 13.97.
| Opposition | Venue | Runs | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gujarat | Kolkata | 22 | 9/94 |
| Tripura | Agartala | 91* | 1/84 |
| Railways | Surat | 86 | 8/98 |
| Assam | Kalyani | 101 | 4/83 |
| Services | Kalyani | 38 | 2/50 |
| Haryana | Lahli | 25 | 11/80 |
The Haryana match was the statement. Bengal won inside three days. Shahbaz took 5/42 in the first innings, then 6/38 in the second, striking thrice in four balls at one point. Haryana managed 100 and 105. His match figures of 11/80 were a career best, surpassing his 11/101 against Punjab in 2019-20.
Against Railways in Surat, he took 7/56 in the second innings and scored 86 with the bat. Bengal won by an innings and 72 runs without Mohammed Shami. Against Assam, he scored a century. The performances were not isolated. They were relentless.
In December 2025, Axar Patel was ruled out of the final two T20Is against South Africa due to illness. The selectors named Shahbaz as his replacement for the matches in Lucknow and Ahmedabad. The door he thought had closed permanently was open again.
Insider Read
A sports hernia changes how a left-arm spinner loads through the hip on delivery stride. The abdominal wall is compromised, and the torque that generates revolutions on the ball comes from exactly the muscles that are damaged. A knee cartilage injury changes the plant foot mechanics: the front leg that braces on release, the pivot that allows the follow-through. Returning from either one requires careful biomechanical adjustment. Returning from both simultaneously is not rehabilitation. It is reconstruction.
Shahbaz’s 35 wickets at 13.97 in the Ranji Trophy that followed his return are proof that the reconstruction worked. He was not bowling at reduced intensity or limiting his role. He was taking 11-wicket match hauls and striking thrice in four balls. That does not happen when a bowler is protecting himself. That happens when the body has been rebuilt correctly and the bowler trusts it completely.
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