Mohammed Shami has become a liability for team India? Bowling Coach Paras Mhambrey's sensational revelation
Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has opened up on leaving Mohammed Shami out of India's Playing XI during the initial stages of the ODI World Cup 2023. Shami did not play the first few games of the tournament and only came into the picture after allrounder Hardik Pandya suffered an ankle injury.
Unfortunately, Pandya's injury became serious and he was ruled out of the remaining matches. But it opened the doors for Mohammed Shami and he came straight away into the Playing XI. The fast bowler picked up a five-wicket haul in his first match of World Cup 2023 and further cemented his place in the Playing XI.
In the next two matches, Shami picked up 9 wickets to create sensations across the opposition batting line-ups. The right-arm quick produced his best bowling figures of the tournament, with 7-57, in the semi-final against New Zealand and helped India march into the final.
Paras Mhambrey opens up on Mohammed Shami's last-minute entrance in World Cup 2023
During an interview with The Indian Express, Paras Mhambrey opened up about the reasons behind Shami's last-minute entrance into World Cup 2023. When asked whether it was the desperation of the team to get Shami into the Playing XI, Mhambrey responded that having Hardik Pandya as the third seamer did not allow Shami to get into the team initially.
"(Mohammed) Shami was always there. But in the bilateral series, you had to build a team as well and needed to factor in a lot of things like form and workload. Because of squad strength, he missed out," Mhambrey said.
"As far as the World Cup goes, Hardik (Pandya) was the fourth seamer in the squad and when it was clear he would be able to bowl his full quota of overs, he was going to be the third-choice seamer in the XI behind Bumrah and Siraj, who had an outstanding Asia Cup. So leaving out Shami was never an easy choice. Our combination didn’t allow him. But once Hardik was injured, Shami just came in," Mhambrey added.
Mohammed Shami emerged as the highest wicket-taker in World Cup 2023
Despite coming midway through the World Cup 2023, Mohammed Shami emerged as the tournament's highest-wicket taker with 24 wickets in seven matches at an exceptional average of 10.70 and an economy rate of 5.26. His best figures were 7-57, which came in the big semi-final game against New Zealand.
India had the highest run-scorer and the highest wicket-taker of the tournament in the form of Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami but could not win the title as they lost to Australia in the final by 6 wickets.
Mohammed Shami last played an international match in the ODI World Cup 2023 final. Since then, he has been out of the team due to injury. A few months ago, he had ankle surgery, which forced him out of the IPL 2024 and the T20 World Cup that followed. He is likely to make a comeback into the team from India's home Test series against Bangladesh.
