Seasoned India pace-man Mohammed Shami, who is also nicknamed “Lalaji”, turned 33 on Sunday. Shami has been an integral part of the Indian team, especially in the ODI and Test formats. He made his debut on November 6, 2013, in the home series against West Indies, which is often remembered as ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series. In Sachin’s 199th Test match, Shami received his Test cap from India’s ‘God of Cricket’ himself. Scalping four wickets in the first innings, he breathed fire in the second as well, making it a one-sided contest for India. His reverse swing turned out to be too hot to handle for the Caribbean batters, as they fell like nine pins. The speedster took the bowling honours with his maiden 5-wicket haul. MS Dhoni, India’s skipper at the time, recognised the quality and talent Shami possessed. His words of praise for Shami at the post-match presentation are still vivid in the minds of the Indian fans.
“Shami was fantastic, he got the right length, and that was the reason he got nine wickets (in both innings). You need a bit of pace if you want to dominate, he has very good seam positioning, which means he can reverse away from the right-handers too. On a wicket that has more bounce, he can move the ball both ways,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.
Shami produced several fiery spells in the game’s longest format while also making a mark in ODIs, becoming the second-fastest Indian to 50 ODI wickets. In his ODI debut in 2013 against Pakistan, he bowled four straight maidens, a record. During the 2015 World Cup in Australia, Shami, battling through a knee injury, bagged 17 wickets. However, despite the skills at his disposal and variations of pace, Shami was never deemed fit for the T20I format. Proving his detractors wrong and emerging as a potent force in the shortest format, Shami guided debutants Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title in 2021.
