KOLKATA: His spells had been seminal works of art in seam bowling. Even on wickets that are presumed dead or batting friendly, he has been extracting movement like a tornado. It is only poetic that Mohammed Shami, basking in glory of his recent success, gets ready to play his first World Cup match in the city that nurtured him. He was only 16 when he shifted from Uttar Pradesh, where his career was going nowhere, to Kolkata maidans, sometimes earning as little as Rs 500 per match. Now, seen as a colossal figure in the Indian bowling armoury, suddenly India's fortunes seem to depend on his bowling ever more.
Shami is spewing fire, literally, almost like what legendary New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee once said about his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan while comparing their bowling philosophies, 'in see(ing) every ball as like a bullet. There are six balls in an over, and six bullets in a chamber. Each one is a chance to hit.'
Overlooked for the first four matches as Rohit Sharma and Co. sought 'balance' with the bat and ball, the 33-year-old Shami returned for the crucial New Zealand match in Dharamsala and walked away with five wickets becoming the first Indian bowler to claim two five-fors in the World Cup. The figures of 10/0/54/5, which restricted the Kiwis to 273, also fetched the speedster the Player of the Match award.
Brought on as the first change bowler by captain in the ninth over, Shami struck the first ball as Kiwi opener Will Young played it on to the stumps. It was a trademark Shami delivery with a very upright seam, close to off stump and extracting movement off the surface to nip back in. He then went on to claim four more wickets including two in a row to bundle out previous edition finalists, who once were threatening to breach the 300-run mark, with ease. The pacer from Uttar Pradesh, who played domestic cricket for Bengal, was in line for a hat-trick when he cleaned up English batters - Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow - in successive deliveries in the next match in Lucknow.
Shami repeated the feat against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium as he claimed wickets of Charith Asalanka and Dushan Hemantha in two straight deliveries of his first over. He went on to claim another five-for, second of this edition, to once again bag the Player of the Match trophy.
Former India player Gautam Gambhir heaped praise on the bowler after that successful outing against the defending champions. "Ever since his (Shami) comeback in this lineup, it's a completely different bowling lineup now and this was probably the best spell that I have seen from a fast bowler, bowling while chasing. It was incredible. Fast bowling of the highest quality. The pace, the lengths, the seam position, everything," Gambhir said while speaking to official broadcaster Star Sports.
Since his debut in the format more than 10 years ago, Shami is apparently enjoying his best phase in ODIs in 2023. In 15 matches he has played this year till India's World Cup contest against Sri Lanka, he has claimed 33 wickets including three five-fors with a strike rate of 19.2, his best since debut.
Overall, he is second among the pacers with best strike rate and minimum 100 wickets in ODIs after Shaheen Shah Afridi from Pakistan while Aussie Mitchell Starc is third. Afridi is at the top with a strike rate of 25.2 followed by Shami (26) and Starc (26.4). But he is way ahead of the duo if their shows in the ODI World Cup are compared. Shami tops the list of fast bowlers with best strike rate and minimum 20 wickets in the showpiece event with the SR of 15.7. Shaheen is at a distant second with the SR of 20.2 followed by Starc's 21.8.
Having 45 wickets in 14 matches in World Cup, Shami is already the country's leading wicket-taker in the quadrennial event. He now will hope to cement his legacy further when he plays his first World Cup match in Kolkata, the city where he started his career as a professional cricketer 17 years ago. Only 16 when he left Uttar Pradesh, Shami went through the grind on the Kolkata maidans receiving a meagre Rs 500 per match at times and sharing a small dingy room with four or five people.
The hard work paid off as taking a note of his performances in the club cricket, he was eventually drafted into the Ranji squad of 15 in 2010 by then Bengal chairman of selectors Sambaran Banerjee.
"That day I was watching a first division league match between Town Club and Suburban Club. Shami was playing for Town Club and his team was fielding. He was bowling with the wind and extremely well," Banerjee told this daily recalling the time when he first saw the potential in the pacer.
"His seam position was perfect, the ball was moving either side and he got four wickets before lunch. At the break, I called Town Club captain Shafi Ahmed and told him let Shami bowl against the wind on resumption. Against the wind, he bowled with the same pace, more or less same movement and wonderful bounce. He got two more wickets. That evening, we had a selection meeting to pick a team for the Ranji Trophy. Straightaway I called Shami in the 15-member squad. Lot of people were surprised as they did not know who Shami was. I took the responsibility and told other selectors that he is one of the finest bowlers, let him play Ranji this season and rest, as they say, is history," Banerjee, who had also served as the national selector, added.
So what makes his special and quick was the response from the Ranji-winning wicketkeeper-batter of Bengal, "His smooth run up and seam position, which is the best in the World at the moment. After Glenn McGrath, I have never seen a seam position like this. And of course his right length. These are his plus points."
Fittingly, Shami made his Test debut at Eden Gardens in 2013, which coincidentally was also the maiden match in the longest format for Rohit Sharma, India's incumbent captain. He had played five matches at the Eden Gardens including four Tests and an ODI, which was played against Sri Lanka earlier this year in January albeit he had a forgettable day on the field as he leaked 43 runs from his seven overs without any success.
Banerjee and a lot more like him, who had seen Shami's rise out of nowhere, will be in the stands to cheer him up when the bowler takes the field on Sunday. Hopefully, they will get to watch the same pacer, who once impressed them with his smooth run-up, upright seam position and lot of wickets.
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