Not often do you see a bowler missing the first four matches of a global tournament to overtake all the other bowlers in the tournament not only from his own team but also from others to perch on top of the wicket-takers’ list.
That’s why Mohammad Shami is special. Shami took seven for 57 on Wednesday night in front of a packed Wankhede Stadium against New Zealand to bowl India into their fourth ICC Cricket World Cup final, and their first since 2011.
Shami’s figures are not only his best in ODIs but also India’s best in ODIs, moving ahead of Stuart Binny’s six wickets for four runs against Bangladesh in 2014. Shami’s third five-wicket haul in six matches in this World Cup – the most by a bowler in a single World Cup edition – is also his best figures in international cricket across all formats. And, in all World Cups, he is only second behind Australia’s Mitchell Starc, who has four five-fors.
Needless to say, Shami is the best bowling figure in World Cup knockouts, pushing aside Gary Gilmour of Australia, who took six for 14 in the 1975 semifinal. Squeeze in Shami’s five for 51 in the Mohali ODI against Australia in the series prior to the World Cup, and Shami has taken four five-wicket hauls in the space of eight weeks and eight matches.
It is most likely for a bowler of the calibre of Shami to feel frustrated when left out of important matches of the World Cup just to make up the team combination. It seemed like a silly reason, especially when you leave out your best bowler. But then, Shami has never let that come in the way of being ready and preparing as if he was playing in all the matches. And, when the moment came in Dharamsala in India’s fifth match, he struck gold.
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Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour said after Shami’s seven for 57, which bowled India to a 70-run victory after India posted 397 for 4, to a question from Moneycontrol: “He is a special bowler. You can all see he is bowling really really well. The reason he did not play the first four matches was for the kind of combination we were looking to play, it was tough to get him into the team. Credit to the management that he was still in a great mind space. We can see even the best spinner in the world (R Ashwin) is sitting out.”
That is the beauty of this current Indian team that is on a mission in this World Cup. All the batters have fired with Virat Kohli leading the way with a World Cup record for most runs in a single tournament (711) beating Sachin Tendulkar’s 673 in 2003. Rohit Sharma has led from the front as a skipper, scoring those brisk runs in the first 10 overs making the most of the field restrictions, and the middle-order has taken over to an altogether new high with Shreyas Iyer scoring two consecutive centuries and KL Rahul chipping in brilliantly.
And, Shami, bowled with a fire in his belly, struck gold after gold he went on to take 23 wickets in six matches to lead the wicket-takers list, pushing behind Australia’s Adam Zampa (22 in 9 matches), Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madhushanka (21 in 9) and team-mate Jasprit Bumrah (18 in 10). India became the greatest beneficiary of Shami’s wicket-taking abilities.
Not only did he take wickets by the bagful but he took them almost every time his skipper handed over the white ball to him. He took a wicket off the first ball he bowled in this World Cup, forcing NZ opener Will Young to inside edge one while trying to play him square of the wicket. Shami went on to take 5 for 54 in that match.
Against England in his second match, Shami troubled Ben Stokes, setting him up nicely with an admirable line that choked up the England premier left-handed batsman. After struggling to put bat to ball for the nine deliveries that Stokes faced from Shami, he desperately tried to score with a slog but the accuracy of the Indian swing bowler cleaned up the batsman, making a mess of the stumps. It was probably the worst 10 deliveries Stokes faced in this World Cup, falling for a 10th-ball ‘duck’. Shami finished four for 22 in seven overs to make it nine wickets in two matches to star in dismissing England for a paltry 129 and leave India victors by 100 runs in a low-scoring affair.
He took his second five-wicket haul in this World Cup – 5 for 18 – against Sri Lanka, who were bowled out for 55 at the Wankhede. He picked up two wickets in his first over against Sri Lanka and was brilliant as ever.
The beauty of Shami has been his seam position. The cricketing world admired the way Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, the former Indian pacer, bowled with his seam position upright and bowling without the ball wobbling like it usually does. Shami is equally brilliant in that aspect, bowling wicket to wicket and developing into a more mature bowler.
Give him the ball, and he is sure to take a wicket. Be it in his first ball of the match, as he showed for the second time in this World Cup on Wednesday, bowling around the wicket to the left-handed Devon Conway, marginally getting the ball to swing away and taking the edge en route to the safe gloves of KL Rahul.
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Sometimes, Shami takes two in an over just when a partnership has been threatening to take the game away. Like he did with the second ball of his third spell when Kane Williamson flicked him straight to the deep square leg and broke the 181-run third-wicket partnership the Kiwi skipper raised with centurion Daryl Mitchell. Just when the Wankhede Stadium was stunned in silence as Williamson and Mitchell threatened to take the game away with their calculated run chase and big partnership, Shami’s strikes brought back Wankhede Stadium to its noisiest best.
Shami has made this beautiful habit of picking up wickets almost every time Sharma calls him to bowl. Mitchell scored his second consecutive hundred against India in this World Cup, just like Shami took his second consecutive five-wicket haul against the Kiwis. Mitchell was Shami’s fifth victim, lofting him to long-on. Mitchell, who saw off Shami initially, said: “The seamers had the ball talking tonight. In the first 10 overs, it was swinging around. They are all world-class bowlers and there is a reason why they are what they are and credit to them.”
New Zealand skipper Williamson, who has been dismissed by Shami six times across formats in international cricket, and who was his Gujarat Titans team-mate in IPL 2023, though for one match due to knee injury, said on Wednesday: “Shami has been incredible. He's only played probably half the games and he is the 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 taken in such a small amount of games in this tournament. I mean, that Indian team in all departments are firing without a doubt and I'm sure they'll be looking forward to their next opportunity in a few days' time.”
Shami has not only been a dangerous bowler to the opponents but also to his own teammates. Opener Shubman Gill, who has had a remarkable World Cup, with four fifties from eight matches and totalling 350 at 50.00 per innings average, said about facing Shami in the nets: “Yes, it's very difficult. In the nets, it's like, if the wicket is good, it is difficult. But it is fun to play because even Bumrah, Siraj and Shami – they enjoy playing us in the nets and it is definitely very challenging.”
If Wednesday's semifinal will be remembered for Virat Kohli overtaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record for ODI hundreds by becoming the first to score 50 hundreds in this format, it will be equally known for a long time for Shami’s seven-wicket burst, the equivalent of a batsman’s century. And, rightfully, Shami was declared player of the match (his third in this tournament) and the bowler’s efforts have been rewarded in this otherwise batsman’s game.
India will need Shami to strike one repeatedly for one last time, come Sunday in the final at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium.
Well bowled, Shami!
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