Senior India pacer Mohammad Shami has no idea why he's called 'Lala', but suspects that star teammate Virat Kohli is behind the nickname.

In an interview with News24, Shami said even newcomers in the team call him Lala these days but he doesn’t know why a name associated with former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, or jewelers in certain parts of India, has become ‘permanent’ for him.

“I also do not know when it became permanent. It’s Virat’s doing. He only does such things. I was just thinking, one day, what kind of a name is Lala? Even Shahid Afridi had that name. But I did not understand why I had this name,” Shami said.

The right-arm quick also wondered if he’s called that because of his weight. “Am I fat? There are people who do jewelry work who are called lala, but I don’t do that as well. I am not fat either. But when you come to the team, you get some names. If you try to argue about it, they irritate you more in the team. So I let it be," he added.

Mohammad Shami has been out of the Indian team for a few months now due to injury concerns. His last appearance for India came during the Champions Trophy in March this year.

Shami, who was left out of the England Test tour, revealed that he has worked hard on his fitness and feels much better now.

“Touchwood it is better now. The last two months I have trained, increased my skills, shed weight and increased the load as well. Let’s see the result that I get now. My focus in on getting rhythm and to be able to bowl long spells. I have practiced on batting and fielding as well and done a lot of gym. Everything is comfortable now," he remarked.

Shami has played 64 Tests, 108 ODIs, and 25 T20Is thus far, picking up 462 wickets across formats.