SA v IND 2021-22: "Ask any top batter, no one would want to face him," Gambhir hails Shami

Mohammad Shami picked up two wickets in the first innings of the third Test.

By - 13 Jan, 2022

Indian cricket team took a 13-run lead in the first innings of the third Test after bowling out South Africa for 210 runs. Jasprit Bumrah picked up a five-wicket haul, along with Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav bagging two wickets each.

Bumrah dismissed Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi to register a figure of 5/42. Shami, on the other hand, picked the wicket of Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne in the same over when South Africa were building a partnership.

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Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir praised Shami for being outstanding with the ball throughout the series and called him the most threatening bowler of the series. From 159/4, South Africa lost their last six wickets for only 51 runs after the 31-year-old broke the partnership of Bavuma and Keegan Petersen.

“More than the fear, he was threatening throughout the day, in this innings, and probably throughout the series. The kind of lengths which he bowled, kept testing the batter. Ask any top batsman. No one would want to face him. He bowls so close to the stumps that he is always in or around off-stump. And from there on, he gets the movement and from there on he gets the edges,” Gambhir said on the Byju’s Cricket Live Show on Star Sports.

Gambhir called Shami one of the best bowlers in the longest format currently. “I think Mohammed Shami or Jasprit Bumrah will keep challenging any batter. For me, Mohammed Shami is relentless and he’s very threatening. He is probably one of the best bowlers going around in red-ball cricket,” he added.

(Inputs from Star Sports)

By - 13 Jan, 2022

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