Fitter, meaner Mohd. Shami good news for Indian team
ST. LUCIA: Over the few conversations with Mohammed Shami managed between training and waiting together at the airport, one thing was pretty clear --- he doesn’t take his place for granted. Neither does he believe in destiny though it played an obvious role in his rise from Amroha to a first-division club in Kolkata, domestic cricket and finally a Test debut at his adopted home. If his quick rise raised many eyebrows, his long hiatus due to an injury also amused few. Shami was about to be dismissed as one of those players who were at the right place at the right moment until he bounced back in style here.
The comeback wasn’t easy. Once in crutches after a painful operation on his left knee, Shami used the 18 months away from cricket to reduce his weight and take as much load as possible on his legs to ensure that he didn’t have to endure another day away from cricket. “When the operation happened, there was doubt in my mind, but when I went through rehab at the NCA for 7-8 months that doubt went out of mind because we had done so much hard work and put so much load on the knee. So there was no worry about the load to come. So it was just about confidence after that and I was trying to continue from where I had left off before the injury,” said Shami ahead of the third Test here on Sunday.
Shami’s comeback has been nothing less than promising, extracting bounce and just the right amount of movement to keep West Indies batsmen on edge.
He has the natural talent of hitting the right length that keeps batsmen on the backfoot and his celebrations suggest, Shami is back to enjoying his bowling, something India need him to do if they want good results.
Shami’s bouncer though has been talk of the series. To be able to get that carry despite not being tall speaks volumes about the practice he has put into his bowling. And he has a clear idea of what to do. “There are only two ways to test the batsmen --- either you can pitch it up or you can bowl short. So my plan is to make the batsmen uncomfortable, find that out and keep doing it. I was trying to read the batsmen’s weakness early,” said Shami about his bowling this series that has given him eight wickets in two Tests.
“The effort is to work out as quickly as possible that what length the ball is getting more bounce and at what length which should bowl and make batsmen more uncomfortable. Wherever the batsman finds most discomfort we work on that and short ball also we used in terms of changes and we got benefit of that and keep going this mix,” he said.
“My only focus was to reduce my weight as much as possible and control my diet as much as possible because that would mean getting back to fitness would be easier. Even so I have lost nearly 14-15 kgs which went above because I was in bed for two months. So had to work hard to lose it all and the result you can see now,” said Shami.
“I told doctors and trainers to give me as much load as possible and try everything because I didn’t want any doubt going ahead into the season. After that I worked in the nets and whichever team was working out at NCA I joined them and did as many net sessions as possible,” he added.