In recent times, the Indian pacer, Mohammed Shami has been enjoying prolific form by wreaking havoc for a lot of batsmen all around the world. He has been a revelation in the past couple of years – not for his talent or wicket-taking ability (those were always there) but it is his temperament, consistency and most-importantly fitness that has stood out.
No longer he is referred to as ‘mercurial Shami’ or ‘temperamental Shami’ in fact, he now revels in his ‘second-innings Shami’ moniker. Since 2018, he has scalped as many as 23 wickets in 16 innings in the first innings at an average of 37.56. But, it is the second innings where the real Shami has turned up. His average in the second innings during the same time is as good as 17.70. He has taken 40 second-innings scalps since 2018, five of which came in the recently concluded Test in Vizag.
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Making good use of his accuracy and relentless targeting of the off-stump, Shami ran through the South African batsmen with pace and reverse-swing. Hailing his ability to bounce back from the off-field issues, head coach Ravi Shastri describes the fast bowler a rare combo of being ‘relentless’ and ‘very skillful’ at the same time.
During a recent interview with The Hindu, Shastri said, “To bounce back from personal issues and bowl the way he did was remarkable. He is relentless, very skillful and at you all the time. I would have hated to face him. He is at you all the time, he is very skillful and in conditions like yesterday a few bowlers in the world are better than him.”
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Indian captain Virat Kohli too hailed Shami, referring to him as their consistent strike-bowler in the 2nd innings. He said, “Shami has been the strike bowler for us in the 2nd innings consistently now. If you see all his 4, 5-wicket hauls, it comes in the 2nd innings where the team invariably needs it. He reverses it well. That’s his strength.”
The second Test between India and South Africa has started on October 10 in Pune, giving Shami another opportunity to enhance his reputation and add another tail to his ‘second-innings Shami moniker’.
