‘Training sessions with Shami during lockdown helped me’
NEW DELHI: When Imran Khan, a young aspiring first-class cricketer took his younger brother Mohsin to Badruddin Siddiqui for guidance, the coach didn’t know what to make of the short and slight player from Moradabad’s Sambhal area. With eight wickets from four games, Mohsin is the latest among the group of rookie pacers, who have started making waves in this year’s IPL. Badruddin is one of the well-known grassroots level coaches in UP, having groomed the versatile Mohammed Shami during his initial years.
“It was more than a decade back when Mohsin’s elder brother Imran used to come to my academy. By then Shami had moved to Kolkata and was playing Ranji Trophy. “It was Imran who told me that his younger Mohsin is interested and if he could bring him for training,” Badruddin recollected after his ward took 4/16, including wickets of David Warner, Rishabh Pant and Rovman Powell to win it for Lucknow Super Giants.
Badruddin remembers that initially Mohsin was like any other 13-year-old, who would at times be a tad inattentive. “Kids of that age would be like that. Suddenly, he is bowling and next moment I see him padded up and taking guard. He would get scolded by me but if I am honest, 10 years back, I never felt seeing his physique that he could become a potent fast bowler,” the coach said. “However, his height shot up in a year and he became six feet tall. His game went to a different level and he started working hard with full focus,” the coach said.
Multan Khan, a retired cop with UP Police had full faith in Badruddin since he was Shami’s coach and left it entirely on him to guide his son. In fact, just like Shami left for Kolkata to face the bump and grind of tough club cricket, Badruddin also sent Mohsin to Kolkata based coach Abdul Monayem so that he could arrange a first division club for him. But as luck would have it, Mohsin had to come back as he was selected for U-19 UP side. “I remember Mohsin as he played in some practice matches between club teams that we had arranged pre-season. He attracted a lot of attention with his 6 feet 3 inch frame and would release the ball from around 10 feet after jump. He was a fine talent but he had to go back,” Monayem recollected.
While he has been primarily a white-ball bowler, in 2020 during first lockdown post COVID-19, Mohsin got a rare chance to train with Shami at his residential ground in Amroha.
Shami owns a ground at his native place where he has developed turf pitches and along with Badruddin, his younger brother Mohammed Kaif and Mohsin trained there during lockdown. “It was a very small group and I had called Mohsin so that he could train and learn watching Shami. I also wated Shami to have a look at him and give his feedback as to how he was shaping up. “What I felt was that Shami was impressed and gave him a lot of tips. And trust me you have seen his bowling but he is an equally capable hard-hitting batter,” Badruddin said.