IND vs SA: Wasim Akram Made A Bowler Out Of Mohammed Shami - Pacer's Ex-Coach

Mohammed Shami, who was not even a first-choice playing XI member of India in the initial matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 has now proved himself to be a valuable asset for India. He has taken 14 wickets in three games and has proved himself even more valuable than the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the past few matches. He was sidelined due to India’s choice of going with two pacers, two spinners, and two pace-bowling all-rounders.

Shreevats Goswami, Virat Kohli’s Under-19 teammate, and Shami’s Ranji teammate recently met Virat Kohli and Kohli talked about how difficult it is to face Mohammed Shami. According to Shreevats, Kohli said that picking Shami is even more difficult than picking Jasprit Bumrah.

“Virat explained to me why Shami is so difficult to face. He said ‘Shami makes a subtle change with his fingers. It is easy to read Jasprit (Bumrah) but with Shami, you don’t know which ball is coming in and which is going away,” Goswami said, as quoted by the Indian Express..

“Virat is true also. Shami is a menace to face in the nets. I remember after his first India call-up. He was training with us in an indoor facility at Eden. Dada (Sourav Ganguly) was also present there and Shami was strictly told by the coaches not to bowl bouncers. But Shami bhai will end up bowling a couple after every six or seven balls. I remember Dada was so excited that he later gave Shami the green light to bowl three bouncers in six balls,” he added.

Wasim Akram Made A Bowler Out Of Mohammed Shami

For Virat Kohli, the return to Eden Gardens is special as he scored the first of his 48 ODI hundreds on the very same ground 14 years ago. Kolkata is special for Mohammed Shami too as he moved to this city in 2006. At that time he used to play for Dalhousie Athletic Club and then Town Club before moving to Mohun Bagan.

However, according to former Mohun Bagan coach, Abdul Monayem, Mohammed Shami’s IPL Season with KKR in 2013 was the game-changer for Shami. Wasim Akram was the bowling coach for KKR at that time and he worked a lot with Shami during that time.

“Wasim Akram has worked a lot with him. He had a very good wrist position but Wasim Bhai worked on his release. He was not getting much game time for KKR, but he was always around Wasim. It was Wasim Akram, who made him the bowler he is, and of course, he has worked hard too,” he said, as quoted by the Indian Express.

Currently, Mohammed Shami holds the record for most fifers for India in ODIs (4) and the joint most fifers in the World Cup with Australia’s Mitchell Starc (3). With his consistency and accuracy, Mohammed Shami is playing a pivotal role in the Indian team’s success in this World Cup.