Team India won the final Test of the three-match series against South Africa. It was a great win for Virat Kohli and his men but very special for debutant Shahbaz Nadeem who was brought into the squad as a replacement of Kuldeep Yadav just 24 hours before the match was scheduled. He was in Kolkata when he got the information about his inclusion in the squad for the final Test.
Shahbaz is playing first-class cricket for the last 15 years in order to fulfill his dream of playing for India which turned into reality against the Proteas when he received his maiden Test cap from Indian skipper Virat Kohli. He took four wickets in the match against Proteas in front of his home crowd and later he was appreciated by former Indian skipper MS Dhoni who witnessed India’s win on Day-4.
ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma Emulates Virat Kohli In ICC Rankings
South Africa’s second innings ended within two overs on Day 4 and Nadeem was the bowler who took both the wickets in order to take India to a huge win. When the hosts won the final Test, the former skipper was present in the dressing room. A picture on social media went viral in which Dhoni was seen having a chat with the debutant after the match.
In an exclusive interview given to Times of India, when Nadeem revealed that he had a normal talk with Dhoni as Shahbaz asked the latter to rate his performance. He said, “I met him (Dhoni) after the match. I asked him, ‘Mahi Bhai how did I do?”
In reply to the question of the left-arm spinner, Dhoni felt that Shahbaz has become quite a maturity and now there is no need to do any experiments. Nadeem told, “‘Shahbaz, you have matured now. I was watching you bowl. There is a maturity in your bowling now. That is because of your domestic experience. Just don’t experiment too much and play the way you have been playing. Your journey has started, Shahbaz.’ We chatted about our journeys”.
ALSO READ: Dinesh Karthik Replies To S Sreesanth’s Claim
Shahbaz scalped the wickets of Temba Bavuma, Anrich Nortje, Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi in the final Test against Proteas.
