Nobody in Indian cricket has endured more troubles than Mohammed Shami. When his career was sailing smoothly in 2015, Shami suffered knee injury sidelining him for one year. Before the knee troubles, Shami was an important and a permanent cog in the Indian XI across all three formats. Shami was first name on the fast bowling list. But during his time away from the game, Jasprit Bumrah emerged and claimed the role of fast bowling leader. Hardik Pandya, with his all-round skills, became the third preferred bowler in ODIs.
With fast bowling stocks rising, Shami failed to reclaim his position in ODI squad, though he remained premier first choice option in tests. Shami, India’s best bowler in 2015 World Cup couldn’t find a spot in playing XI during Champions Trophy 2017.
Last year, Shami was embroiled in a domestic controversy with his wife accusing him of misdeeds which led to him being momentarily drooped from BCCI’s centrally contracted players list. Any other player might not have been able to face this arduous time but not Shami. Shami is a tough minded cricketer who handled the chaos with aplomb. He kept on training and hit the gym regularly.
After the historic test series win on Australian soil – in which Shami played an important role, he was picked for ODI squad. With Jasprit Bumrah rested, Shami straight away walked into XI and made an immediate impact. He picked up five wickets in the series and looked penetrative whenever captain handled him the bowl.
He continued his form against New Zealand and claimed 3 wickets in first ODI at Napier to setup an astounding victory for India. Shami dismissed New Zealand opening pair of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro within first five overs and also removed all rounder Mitchell Santner to bag 3/19.
The hallmark of Shami’s bowling was seam presentation – aesthetically upright. The upright seam meant that Shami was able to gain the natural moment which was available with new ball. The ball to dismiss Guptill jagged back in to hit the stumps via an inside edge. With this scalp, Shami became the fastest Indian player to reach the landmark of 100 ODI wickets. Colin Munro was outdone by a corker. Coming around the wicket, Shami angled the ball in which also nipped off the surface to hit the top of off stump. There were no send offs, only a wide smile – a smile of satisfaction.
“Whatever we have achieved has been a team effort. And we always have plans for players. Plan A, Plan B. We can go from one to the next” Shami said in post match presentation to sky sport NZ. Talking about New Zealand’s conditions, Shami said “Slight changes in conditions. Grounds are bigger in Australia and climate was warmer. Looking at the last series we played here, it was important to figure out where to bowl here depending on those dimensions”
He later came back in 30th over to claim Santner’s wicket. After a couple of bouncers he trapped him LBW with a fuller bowl to further derail New Zealand’s innings. This wicket highlights Shami’s development into a thinking bowler. A bowler who can outsmart batsman by setting up them.
Shami talked about the injury period. “I made a comeback after a long time and spent a good time at our rehab centre which is world class. It changed things for me a bit. It was big blow. For the next 18 months I was in rehab. I trained really hard and when I came into the team, everyone backed me, the management, the captain and so I was able to push my limits, keep getting fitter and fitter”
Kohli remarked that it is the fittest he has seen him bowl in his career. All the hard yards he put in are now translating into success. With this performance, he for now has grabbed the backup role as a third fast bowler and eased one of Kohli’s tension leading up to the World Cup. All this is possible because Shami was able to put mind over matter.
