ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Aakash Chopra Expresses Surprise Over Rohit Sharma's Decision To Give Mohammed Shami Just One Over vs Australia

The 45-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has expressed surprise over India National Cricket Team captain Rohit Sharma’s decision to give just one over to the senior pacer Mohammed Shami in the warm-up game against Australia National Cricket Team.

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up match between Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team and Aaron Finch-led Australia National Cricket Team was played at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, on Monday, October 17.

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In the final over of the match, Australia needed 11 runs to win. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh had one over left and many expected him to bowl the last over, but the Indian captain Rohit Sharma called Mohammed Shami out of nowhere to bowl his first over in the 20th over.

Shami did an incredible job with the ball and ended his over with the figures of 1-0-4-3. He gave away 4 runs on the first two deliveries and on the next four balls Australia lost back-to-back wickets and got bundled out for 180.

In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said that Shami being allowed to bowl just one over came as a surprise to him. He elaborated:

“Mohammed Shami got just six deliveries. That’s all you allowed him to bowl. We were all surprised by that. Warm-up matches are generally used to try different things and give chances to your players.

“We were all hoping that Shami would get an over, but the skipper didn’t do that. It looked as if India wouldn’t be able to win the game when Australia needed 11 off six balls.

“But then, Shami came and bowled yorkers after yorkers. He bowled just one short ball, the rest were all yorkers.”

It took just six balls for Mohammed Shami to show the world that he was right here – Aakash Chopra

Chopra further stated that the senior pacer Shami took just six balls to show the world that he can be the solution to India’s problems in the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. He said:

“It took just six balls for Mohammed Shami to show the world that he was right here. It was like him saying that Jasprit Bumrah might not be there, but I am here.

“He showed that he can be the answer to India’s problems and that he can also deliver in the 20th over. While India didn’t play him in T20s, he proved that he can do the job for them now when he has finally got a chance.”

Former India opener Chopra was also impressed with medium-pacer Harshal Patel’s bowling performance in the game against Australia. He mentioned that Harshal was expensive in his first two overs, but in his third over, which was the 19th over of the game, he dismissed dangerous Aaron Finch and gave away just five runs. He asserted:

“Harshal Patel was expensive in his first two overs. However, he was able to pick up the crucial wicket of Aaron Finch in his third over. When the slower one hits the fuller length and there’s a dip, that’s when you know that Harshal is in solid form. He is back in form.”

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