India’s UP-born speedster Mohammed Shami feels that the Men in Blues’ bowling attack has come a long way in getting appreciation from fans and that the bowling department is no more overshadowed by India’s overpowering batting line-up consisting of players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill among others.
Mohammad Shami was among India’s star performers during the ICC Cricket World Cup on home soil last year. It was the first time since 2011 that the country hosted the major tournament and with that came the expectations of repeating the same thing MS Dhoni’s side did.
The Men in Blue were absolutely flawless in the tournament, remaining unbeaten throughout the league stages before that unlucky day arrived on the night of the finale. India faltered in all of the departments, failing to score runs in the 1st innings and then failing to defend the low target of 241 in front of a million Indian fans at the world’s largest cricket stadium.
India’s journey to the finale was nothing less than a fairytale story. Batting stalwart Virat Kohli became the first-ever international to score 50 ODI centuries, which he achieved in another top story of India defeating New Zealand in the semi-final.
But Kohli’s sole effort in the match at Wankhede was not enough. The Indians had posted 398 as the target on the back of another century from Shreyas Iyer but the Kiwis just like they always do, had an upper hand in the initial phases of the game.
The memories of the 2019 CWC semi-final were waiting flashing over Indian fan’s eyes as Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell initiated a wonderful attempt to chase the mammoth total. However, it was at that time when Mohammed Shami who already become a cult legend by then, did something a very of us were expecting.
Having entered the playing XI only because of Hardik Pandya’s injury lay-off, Shami had already collected 16 wickets in 5 CWC outings and he added another 7 that night. It was almost unbelievable how the Blackcaps bowed down to the greatness of Mohammed Shami who removed batters like Conway, Ravindra, Williamson, Mitchell, Santner, Southee and Lockie.
Mohammed Shami Describes Changed Mindset Among Fans
While speaking to News18, Mohammed Shami claimed that his match-winning spell somehow created a positive impact on the image of India’s bowling battery among fans who have also started to talk about bowling performances instead of just focusing on the batters.
“The people who used to like the Indian cricket team for their batting have now started cheering for us. There is no greater happiness than this.
“People talk about the performance of the bowlers during the World Cup, but, if you have to look at the overall picture, you have to go back to 2013 and 2014. That is where the journey started,” Shami said to News18.
“If we look at the facts now, we only had three fast bowlers performing in the World Cup this time, which makes us believe that we have set the benchmark for future bowlers,” Mohammed Shami concluded.