Mohammed Shami played a brutal ODI World Cup in 2019. Since Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah were India’s first-choice pacers for the competition, he wasn’t included in the starting XI at first. But as the competition went on, the team captained by Virat Kohli unveiled Shami, who completely changed the game. He scored four goals against the West Indies, five against England, and a hat-trick against Afghanistan.
Shami was dropped from both the last league match against Sri Lanka and the semi-final match against New Zealand, which India lost by 18 runs, despite his strong form and momentum. The elite pacer reflected on that and said there was nothing more he could have done to demonstrate his value. He continued by saying he looks to excel whenever he has the chance and gave the ODI World Cup as an example, where he finished as the competition’s top wicket-taker.
“I didn’t play the first four or five games in 2019.” I claimed a hat-trick in the following game, five wickets in the following game, and four wickets in the following game. Something comparable took place in 2023.
‘I picked a fifer, then four wickets, and then a five-wicket haul again,’ Mohammed Shami stated in an interview on Shubhankar Mishra’s Unplugged YouTube series after missing the first several games.
“It always baffles me why every team requires players who can put up good performances. In three games, I claimed 13 wickets. What else are you hoping for from me? I don’t know the answers, and I don’t have any questions. Only when I’m given the chance can I demonstrate my abilities. I won three matches and took 13 wickets because you gave me an opportunity. New Zealand won after that. total of four games played and fourteen wickets taken. I took 24 wickets in seven games in 2023,” he continued.
Also Read: Mohammed Shami on Sania Mirza marriage rumours: “It’s weird.”
Notably, in the history of the ODI World Cup, Shami is India’s top wicket-taker. Having participated in 18 games so far in the campaign, he has collected 55 scalps.
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