In August 2022, Shahbaz was named as a replacement for injured Washington Sundar in India's ODI squad for their tour against Zimbabwe.

Much to the chagrin of his parents, Shahbaz decided to drop out of his engineering studies to pursue his cricket career.

He became Bengal's crisis man and was instrumental in them reaching the finals of 2019-20 Ranji Trophy earning him the nickname Jaanbaaz.

[9] Shahbaz made his List A debut for Bengal in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 20 September 2018 against Jammu and Kashmir team at Chennai.

[13] In January 2021, against Hyderabad, he became the seventh player from Bengal and first since India pacer Mohammed Shami to claim a Ranji Trophy hat-trick.

[15] In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League.

[19] In April 2021, Shahbaz took three wickets in one over against the Sunrisers Hyderabad during the sixth match of 2021 Indian Premier League,[20] which was eventually won by his team.