As Mohammad Shami celebrates his 30th birthday on Thursday (September 3), India and Kings XI Punjab star speedster has recalled his elder brother Hasib Ahmed’s advice that helped him to hit 14 sixes in a match and made him a cricketer on his special day.

Before making it big at the international stage, the pacer was afraid of the season ball, admitted Shami on Thursday while recalling a district level cricket tournament where Hasib asked the Indian star to bat for his team but he was quite scared to bat fearing an injury.

Well, Hasib had already seen Shami’s aggressive style of batting in their locality and his utmost belief in young Shami's abilities has convinced him to surprise all including him in the match, as the right-hander went on to smash 14 sixes in the innings that motivated him to continue playing cricket.

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Shami told KXIP’s official website KXIP.in: “I was scared of the season ball so I preferred playing tennis ball cricket. But my elder brother Hasib had entered a team into a district level cricket tournament. His team was a player short and needed a batsman, so he pushed me to join and I did.

The 30-year-old further added, “Honestly, I wasn't into cricket that much when I was younger. My uncle, my father, and my brothers were excellent fast bowlers and loved the game. I just tagged along.”

Recalling his brother's advice, Shami said: “He told me 'Listen. You open up your body, give yourself room to free your arms, and just hit it along the line. I've seen you do it in tennis-ball cricket and the principle there applies the same here as well.' That advice game me much needed some confidence.”

He signed off by saying, “I connected so well on that very first delivery, it was liberating. Following that, I just didn't stop. They kept bowling at me, and I kept swinging my bat and depositing the ball across the rope.”