India’s pace sensation Mohammed Shami has been receiving praises from all corners after he completed his 200 wickets in the longest format of the game. Shami reached the milestone in his 55th Test match, which makes him the third-fastest Indian paceman to the landmark.
Shami, who hails from a humble background – Sahaspur Ali Nagar, a village in the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh has emerged out to be one of the key players of the Indian cricket team. His rise in the international scene for the Indian cricket team is nothing but inspirational.
However, the road to success wasn’t that easy. Shami, who had broken into the Indian ranks in 2013 for the first time against Pakistan, had shown a lot of potential with his pace and accuracy. However, in the year 2016, Shami underwent turmoil in his personal life and also faced several fitness issues.
The situation worsened in 2018 when Shami found himself out of a central contract and the way back for him seemed too long. But he paved his way out of the bad phase and made a stunning comeback into the Indian cricket team.
Recently, former Indian batting coach and cricket expert Sanjay Bangar revealed a heartfelt story of how Mohammed Shami worked on his fitness and made a comeback into the Indian cricket team.
Well, speaking on Byju’s Cricket Live, Sanjay Bangar revealed what Shami told him after he made his comeback into the Indian cricket team. Shami revealed how he had converted his agricultural land in his native in Uttar Pradesh into running tracks in order to work on his agility. He revealed:
“There was a time in 2016 or 2017 when his fitness levels had dropped. He was also going through some tough times in his personal life. But he went back and took it seriously not getting selected on fitness grounds.”
He added:
“I remember him telling me that when he went back during that phase – he is someone who has got some agricultural lands in UP – he made a running track on one of those fields and he used to work a lot on his distance running or his speed and agility run as well. And that’s how he got his bowling fitness back,”
Sanjay Bangar feels that Mohammed Shami’s rhythm is something that can be understood from his run-up. He said:
“If you look at Shami… just looking at his running… if he is not at his best then you will find that he is stuttering in his run-up when you look at him pacing through the run-up, placing and running nicely and fluently, you will realise that he has the balance.”
