Mohammed Shami: From the sidelines to spotlight | Cricket News

MUMBAI: Trent Boult and Tim Southee, one of the best fast bowling pairs in modern-day cricket, gave away 186 runs in their 20 overs in the World Cup semifinal at the Wankhede Stadiumon Wednesday. Later in the evening, on a pata (flat) wicket, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, again world-class pacers, concede boundaries to New Zealand’s openers. There’s no movement on offer for the quicks, with the small size of the ground and extreme humidity making it worse for them.
And then, Mohammed Shami runs in for the first time in the match. His very first ball, a fullish delivery outside the off-stump, pitches in and moves off the seam, luring Devon Conway into a drive, which only results in an edge, pouched beautifully by a diving KL Rahul behind the stumps. In his next over, Shami bowls another peach, perhaps an even better delivery, which straightens after angling in, and gets the dangerous, in-form Rachin Ravindra’s edge. Thereafter, centurion Daryl Mitchell and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson enjoy a massive 181-run stand for the third wicket, giving India the jitters, before Shami returns to calm their nerves again. A set Williamson hit the seamer’s delivery straight to Suryakumar Yadav at deep square leg, and is left agonised as Shami exults amidst deafening roars of the cheering crowd. Welcome to the ‘Shami Show.’
On a wicket where others struggled, Shami, moving the ball around like a puppet on a string, eventually finishing with an incredible haul of 7-57 — the best by a bowler in ODI World Cup knockouts, and the best-ever by an Indian in ODIs. It seems he’s bowling on a different planet at the moment.

While the magic that he’s conjuring up with the ball is the result of the pacer’s hardwork and perseverance and God-given skills, it must be noted that twice now he has signalled towards India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey after taking ‘fivers’, acknowledging the ex-India seamer’s contribution towards his World Cup high.

Post his team’s 70-run defeat to India and succumbing to Shami’s brilliance twice in the World Cup — he had a ‘fiver’ (5-54 at Dharamsala) against the Black Caps — Williamson is lavish in his praise for arguably the best white-ball fast bowler in world cricket today.
“He’s only played probably half the games and he might be close to top wicket-taker and coming on first change, behind two outstanding new-ball bowlers. He’s without a doubt one of the top operators in the world and the way he moves the ball and he keeps bringing the stumps into play. It’s been quite phenomenal really, the amount of wickets he’s gotten in such a small amount of games in this tournament,” said Williamson.

Shubman Gill, admits that he finds it “difficult” to face Shami in the nets.
The numbers that Shami has achieved in this World Cup are staggering. With 23 wickets at an average of 9.13 in just six matches, he’s the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Thrice in six games, he’s taken ‘fivers’. That’s as many as Bob Willis, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Malcolm Marshall, Kapil Dev, Ravi Ashwin and Shane Warne have in their entire ODI careers combined (992 innings).

Tormented by him at Lucknow during a dream spell, England’s Test captain Ben Stokes, a day after Shami took five for 18 against Sri Lanka, called him as the “bowler of the tournament”.
Indeed, the biggest mystery of this World Cup will be, why was Shami cooling his heels in the dressing room in the first four games, with the team management preferring the ‘all-round’ skills of Shardul Thakur over him?

Shami’s childhood coach Badruddin Siddiqui reveals that the team management’s decision to keep him out of initial games in the World Cup was something Shami took in his stride.
“The biggest thing is that he was enjoying that fact also! He was waiting for his opportunity to prove his worth. He knew that the team was doing well, winning matches, but he’ll get his chance. He knew that he would be needed in the big games ahead,” Badruddin told TOI from Moradabad, where a 14-year-old Shami first
went to him, accompanied by his father, to learn the art of fast bowling.

Soaking in his ward’s unparalleled success in the World Cup, which has made the coach a sought-after man by the media, Badruddin praises, “He is constantly bowling in one channel, which, for a fast bowler, is the most essential thing. His deliveries are pitching on the seam, and hence the ball is seaming around tremendously. When you keep bowling on one spot, the batsmen are clueless. They don’t know whether the ball will come in or go out. Once you do that, no fast bowler can be more effective than you.”
Recalling his first meeting with Shami, Badruddin said, “What impressed me about him was that he had loads of stamina, which is the main quality a fast bowler must have. At the trial nets, he maintained his pace from the first ball he bowled, to the ball he bowled after 30 minutes. That told me: ‘Is bande mein jaan hai (this guy has stamina). I can hone his game.’ That he would go on to be so successful was something which I never imagined.”
back then.

Watch “Well played..”: PM Modi lauds Shami and Virat Kohli after India beats New Zealand in semi final