Mohammed Shami is back and how. An ankle injury that required surgery followed by a long recovery process and then the return of a knee injury. The last 12 months have been nothing short of a nightmare for Shami, one of India’s premier fast bowlers. So much so that at one point, he himself started doubting his future in the Indian side, revealed his childhood coach Badruddin. But with Shami, you never say never. He proved it time and again and when he staged another one of those fairytale comebacks, it was not a surprise to those who have followed his career from close quarters. Former India all-rounder and current Bengal head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla is one of the prominent ones from that lot.
Shukla was amazed by Shami’s return to cricket after a year. The right-arm pacer bowled 19 overs and picked up four wickets in a Ranji Trophy Group C match against Madhya Pradesh that put him right in the mix for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Taking an indirect dig at the current generation of fast bowlers who are satisfied bowling just four over spells in big tournaments like the IPL, Shukla said he has never seen a fast bowler making such a strong a comeback after being away from action for a year.
“He bowled one six-over spell and one five-over spell. Players who bowl in the IPL don’t even know how to bowl more than four overs. He bowled the sort of spells fast bowlers are expected to. I have never seen a fast bowler come back so strongly after one year away. What he did today is like a fairy tale,” Shukla said.
In his first appearance after last year’s ODI World Cup, Shami looked close to his best, giving a sense of relief to the prying eyes that were waiting for his comeback.
He bowled four spells overs in the first innings and returned with impressive figures of 4/54, putting Bengal in a strong position at the Holkar Stadium.
‘Shami came here without any match simulation’: Shukla
Laxmi Ratan Shukla was left amazed by the way Shami went about his business and knows the right-arm pacer will soar to new levels as he continues to play more games.
“Someone has come back after one year and has bowled 19 overs and taken so many wickets… what’s there to say? He came into the match without doing any match simulation. Can you imagine? But obviously, if he plays more, he will get better,” Laxmi said as quoted from ICC.
Initially, Shami was economical, with figures of 0/34 in 10 overs. He took it slowly and bowled in two spells, with one made up of four overs in which he gave away 16 runs and another one of six overs in which he spilt 18 runs.
But in the second half, Shami grew more in confidence and rattled the hosts with his mesmerizing pace. He majorly dealt blows in the middle and the tail end of Madhya Pradesh’s batting order.
MP skipper Shubham Sharma was the biggest fish he caught during his competitive return. He cleared the tail-end by removing Saransh Jain, Kumar Kartikeya and Kulwant Khejroliya.