In his first 92 ODIs, senior India pacer Mohammed Shami took just one five-wicket haul. Today, at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, in the 1st ODI of the series against Australia, Shami rocked up and was sensational right from the start of the game.
Across his four spells in different phases of the game, Mohammed Shami made regular dents and took his ODI career’s second five-wicket haul.
This five-fer, and the sheer quality of wickets, was a reminder from the 33-year-old about his quality and class and skillset to the management after he was overtaken by Mohammed Siraj for the second seamer’s spot, and the management have been preferring Shardul Thakur as the third seamer for the number 8 spot to have some batting depth.
This terrific bowling performance from Mohammed Shami, and on a day when Thakur went for 78 runs in 10 overs, being the most expensive Indian bowler by a distance, could perhaps force the management to rethink their plans of going with Shami over Thakur come the World Cup 2023 next month.
This was also the first five-wicket haul from an Indian pacer in India since 2007.
In the first over itself, Shami dismissed the dangerous Mitchell Marsh. In his second spell, he knocked over Steve Smith, who looked set for a big one. In his death overs spell, Shami first bowled the powerful finisher Marcus Stoinis and then completed his five-for with wickets of Short and Abbott, two very capable hitters.
On a flat pitch in Mohali, Shami’s heroics helped India restrict Australia to a total of 276, which could be considered just par.
Netizens on Twitter had all sorts of reactions, including memes, on Mohammed Shami’s five-for vs Australia:
Stand-in India skipper KL Rahul won the toss and elected to field first in Mohali.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Pat Cummins(c), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w/c), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
