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Mohammed Shami has announced his retirement from Test cricket. The outcast India National Cricket Team pacer announced his decision to leave the traditional format of the game after being out of the national team for a long period of time. After his retirement, India's bowling coach, Morne Morkel, has revealed secrets about sharing the dressing room with the former.
Shami remains one of the best red-ball bowlers that India has ever produced. He is still the best at reverse-swinging the red ball, as he has done it consistently in recent times for the Bengal Cricket Team in the Ranji Trophy, and for the East Zone in the Duleep Trophy as well. His seam position is still the best across formats.
"I was quite fortunate": Morne Morkel on sharing dressing room with Mohammed Shami
While speaking on Sony Sports Network during the India vs New Zealand 2nd ODI, bowling coach Morne Morkel revealed that Mohammed Shami helped him settle inside the India dressing room, as the latter helped him become familiar with the team's environment when he first joined the Men in Blue. Morkel is sad about the decision taken by the veteran speedster.
"Yeah, I was quite fortunate when I first started with the group for Shami to be a part of the team. You know, highly skillful player, a quality guy to have around in the group. And I was quite lucky when I joined for him to bring sort of the Indian language into the dressing room. He helped me quite a lot. So a sad day to see him go," Morkel said.
Mohammed Shami's Test career
Mohammed Shami had an illustrious Test career, having made his debut back in 2013, against the West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. After that, he remained a crucial member of the Test format along with other white-ball formats. However, he delivered amazing spells for the side as he picked 229 Test wickets in 64 matches.
He has 462 international wickets for the Men in Blue, as he still kept the doors open for the ODIs, despite being out of the side after the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 win. Shami will continue to play in white-ball cricket and IPL, as well as the domestic format, as he has been named in the SMAT team for Bengal.
No cricket fan will forget what Shami did in the 2023 ODI World Cup. He was not part of the playing XI in the initial matches; after he was brought in, he never turned back, becoming the leading wicket-taker, claiming 24 wickets in just 7 matches at an astonishing average of 10.70. Though India failed to win the World Cup.
Morne Morkel is happy with Mohammed Shami still playing domestic cricket
In the same video, Morkel expressed his delight that Shami is still active in domestic cricket and continues to bowl a lot of overs in the Ranji Trophy, putting in the hard yards to probably make a comeback into the squad. Though he has not been seen, given his age and injury problems.
"I mean, he's still bowling a lot of overs back home and it's still great to see," Morkel added.
Also Read: Ravi Shastri unhappy with Ajit Agarkar, Gautam Gambhir after Mohammed Shami's Test retirement
