India’s bowling arrowhead

Shami’s three wickets in the first ODI that broke open the game for India re-emphasises his importance, especially at a time when they are without Bumrah

CHENNAI: It was the first ball of the 30th over in the first ODI at the Wankehede Stadium on Friday. Mohammed Shami’s seventh ball of his second spell. The first over of his new spell was eventful, to say the least. Two balls that beat the bat, a short ball that went for six, another that almost went to the boundary, a close caught behind chance and one that found Josh Inglis’ stumps. Shami was in his element moving the ball.

This is why, when Shami was at the top of his mark for the first ball of the 30th over, he knew exactly what the focus should be on. He ran in and released the ball like he had a thread attached to it. The ball, with an upright seam, wobbled slightly in the air, pitched on the good length area of the sixth stump line, and beat the outside edge of Cameron Green’s bat before thudding into KL Rahul’s gloves. Green, having watched Shami go about his lines in the previous over, was batting with a leg-stump guard, ensuring that he was taking the LBW outside of the equation.

Shami, obviously, was drawing him forward and outside the off-stump. The next ball was a bit wider and shorter and Green went for a full-fledged drive only to be beaten again. In the third delivery of the over, Shami came a bit closer to the stumps, pushed it a bit fuller, pitching it on around the middle and off stump line before shaping it away a tad bit. Green, having missed the ball twice in as many deliveries, tried to defend it from the leg stump with his feet nowhere near the pitch of the delivery. The end result? Off-stump out of the ground, Australia five down. It was a perfect set-up from Shami to get rid of the all-rounder.

Shami would have had Marcus Stoinis off the very next delivery had Shubman Gill held on to the catch. That said, Gill eventually did in Shami’s next over when the 32-year-old pushed two deliveries at the stumps before giving some width for Stoinis to slash at. On a day where every teammate of his went for over five runs per over, Shami finished with 2.83 RPO, not to mention the three wickets that handed the control to India.

Now, the set-up or the seam position or the release points should come as no surprise. It is what Shami is known for. It is his USP and after all, it is what makes him the most significant member of this Indian pace attack, especially at a time when Jasprit Bumrah’s return still remains a question. If it feels like an exaggeration, here is a stat: no Indian pacer with more than 50 wickets has a better ODI strike rate than Shami (162 wickets at 27.4). The one with a better SR and fast becoming a regular in the XI is his bowling partner, Mohammed Siraj (41 wickets, 25.8 SR). Prasidh Krishna (26.9) and Umran Malik (25.3) are there, but to have a record as that of Shami over eight years with all the injuries and surgeries is a massive achievement.

This is why, apart from Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, he is the one other player this team management would have all their eyes on. Whether it is his workload or form or rhythm, the 32-year-old will be at the top of the priority list. That he was rested for the Indore Test and did not take part in training before the first ODI sums it up. Come the ODI World Cup, he will have a crucial role to play for the Men in Blue.

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