"Felt 2023 was repeating itself"- Mohammed Shami narrates the final moments of T20 World Cup 2024 with his lens

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami missed the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 due to an injury. The right-arm pacer faced an injury during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in November last year. Later, he never played any games later due to injury.

During a recent interview, Mohammed Shami opened up about missing ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Notably, Shami was not part of India's squad in the tournament as he was recovering from an injury at the National Cricket Academy.

The right-arm pacer also missed the IPL 2024 and the India vs Afghanistan T20I series in January 2024. As a result, he did not play any game after ODI World Cup 2023 and selectors had to overlook him for the T20 World Cup. Later Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh were picked as front-line pacers in the tournament.

However, Mohammed Shami showed his support for the Rohit Sharma & Company. The Indian pacer recovered from his injury during T20 World Cup 2024.

He went to Barbados Stadium to watch the India vs South Africa final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. He supported his teammates and celebrated their victory, although, this time only as a fan.

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I can only watch the sport as a fan: Mohammed Shami on missing ICC T20 World Cup 2024

During a conversation with Indian daily newspaper TOI, Mohammed Shami opened up on missing the T20 World Cup 2024 journey. He reckoned he could only enjoy the sport as a fan.

"I believe whoever took part in that competition, whoever was part of the team deserved to win it if I am unfit today and sitting at home I can only watch the sport as a fan. I have never run away from situations nor have I ever taken an easy way out of things", Shami said.

He also added challenges have always made him stronger and recalled how he dominated in 2015, 2019, and 2023. Shami was the top wicket-taker for India in ODI World Cup in 2023.

"The more adversities I face, the stronger I become. I have more clarity. You look at 2015 I had the most wickets. In 2019 I was the best performer. Same in 2023. Whenever I get the opportunity I will give my 100%", he further said.

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Shami felt India would lose the final against South Africa

Interestingly, Shami also revealed that he felt India would lose the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa as they went through a similar journey to the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. In the tournament, India dominated the opposition by winning 10 games in a row but lost the final against Australia.

"I had felt the same watching this World Cup. I was feeling the same watching it from the outside as I was on the ground that day in 2023 when we won 10 games in a row all the teams were thinking about how to beat India", said Shami, who is a regular Indian pacer for Team India across all three formats.

Meanwhile, Shami has recovered from injury and will look forward to the forthcoming tournament. However, he was not part of the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe. Shami is also not part of the forthcoming ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka.