Mohammad Shami was the star for the Indian team in the second ODI against New Zealand on January 21 in Raipur as his 3/18 was the catalyst for the visitors to be bowled out for 108 runs and the Men in Blue completing a dominating 8-wicket win to go 2-0 up in the three-match series.
The capacity crowd at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, which was hosting its first international match saw a class in seam bowling by Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj as New Zealand was reduced to 5/15 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl.
Shami dismissed Finn Allen for a duck, Daryl Mitchell was out to an absolutely wonderful caught and bowled and Michael Bracewell was bounced out. Shami finished with 3/18 and was named Player of the Match.
After the match, young pacer Umran Malik interviewed Mohammad Shami for bcci.tv. He wanted to know the secret behind Shami's calm and composed approach in high-pressure situations.
"When you are playing the country, you shouldn't take pressure on yourself. You should keep in mind that you should keep trusting your skills, you can tend to get carried away when under pressure. But, when you keep your cool and keep trusting your skills, you have better opportunity to execute your plans. When you are doing well, then the importance of focusing is more.
Keep your smile on, it's white-ball cricket, anybody can get hit. But keep believing in your skill and keep an eye on the pitch and bowl accordingly," Shami said.
The senior India pacer praised young Umran for his bowling speed and wished him the best for the future, but at the same time also offered him some invaluable advice for the future.
Shami told Umran that his pace will make him difficult for any batter to face him, but he can only win the world and become the best in the world if he can control his line and length, and if he earns command over it, then he can win the world.
Shami added, "Apke liye best wishes hai ki aap ache kare. Bass ek he cheej hai, advice dena chahunga ki jitni apke paas pace hai, mujhe lagta nahi hai ki easy hai us pace ko khelna. Bass thoda sa hume work ki jarurat hai line aur length pr. Agar hum usko control m kar lenge to hum duniya par raaj karenge (Best wishes for you, hope you do well. There’s only one piece of advice I want to give: I don’t think it’s easy to play against the pace that you have. Just that we need to work a little on line and length. If we can get a command over it, we can rule the world)."
Here is the video:
