India pacer Mohammad Shami took the cricketing world by storm with his remarkable display in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. He was included in the playing XI after India were forced to alter their playing combination due to Hardik Pandya’s ankle injury.
As it turned out, Shami grabbed the opportunity with both hands, finishing the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps to his name from seven matches at an incredible average of 10.70 with three five-wicket hauls.
Besides Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj also performed exceptionally well in the marquee event, returning with 20 and 14 wickets respectively from 11 matches. No wonder, the Indian pace attack was lauded by the fans and experts throughout the World Cup.
In an exclusive chat with News18 India, Shami spoke in length about the appreciation that Indian fast-bowling had received during the quadrennial event.
Shami was asked if the Indian pacers are now being hailed in the same category as the star batters. To this, he responded by recalling how the pace battery was able to get to the current position.
“People talk about the performance of the bowlers during the World Cup, but, if you have to look at the overall picture, you have to go back to 2013 and 2014. That is where the journey started,” Shami said.
He added, “If we look at the facts now, we only had three fast bowlers performing in the World Cup this time, which makes us believe that we have set the benchmark for future bowlers.”
However, Shami argued that the journey for India’s dominant pace attack began in the past seven to eight years, crediting the likes of Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav among many others for setting the benchmark.
“The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah came in after and then Mohammed Siraj. Like this, this team could set a benchmark on its own,” he said.
Shami further emphasized that the Indian bowlers have been able to take on the opposition in their home conditions as well.
“If you look at the records of the past 6-8 years, we can see that the Indian cricket team has been able to take on any opposition on their home soil. This increased our confidence which enabled us to build trust in us which carried on through to 2024.”
“The people who used to like the Indian cricket team for their batting have now started cheering for us. There is no greater happiness than this,” he concluded.
After the World Cup 2023, Shami picked up an ankle injury and couldn’t travel to South Africa for the red-ball series. He is yet to recover completely and not featuring in the ongoing five-Test series against England at home.
