IND vs SA: You Can’t Keep Mohammed Shami Out Of The Game For A Long Time, Affirms Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that Mohammed Shami drew inspiration from his colleagues during the second day of the third Test in Cape Town.

India’s bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah bagged his seventh five-wicket haul in the red-ball format as he returned with the figures of 5/42 as Proteas were bowled out for 210.

Bumrah knocked opener Aiden Markram’s stumps on the second ball of the day to give India a great start. Bumrah had also dismissed South Africa’s hero in Wanderers, Dean Elgar, at the end of Day 1.

Umesh Yadav got a couple of wickets as he cleaned the stumps of nightwatchman Keshav Maharaj, who added 25 runs to the team’s tally. Just after the lunch break, Yadav dismissed Rassie van der Dussen on 21.

Mohammed Shami wanted to contribute after seeing his teammates pick wickets: Sunil Gavaskar

Keegan Petersen and Temba Bavuma were about to set the tone for the hosts as the duo combined for 47 runs.

In the 56th over of South Africa’s innings, Mohammed Shami broke the stand by forcing Bavuma to poke his back of the length delivery to Virat Kohli at the second slip.

Two balls later Shami got the wicket of South Africa wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne as Rishabh Pant took a diving catch behind the stumps.

Gavaskar said that Shami’s potential cannot be dismissed and applauded the pacer for breaking the crucial stand between Petersen and Bavuma.

“Somebody of his calibre, you can’t keep him out of the game for a long time. He had seen Yadav take a couple of wickets, he had seen Bumrah bowl splendidly and take 2 wickets. So he wanted to contribute. And he came in and did it at the right time,” Gavaskar said on SuperSport Cricket.

“That Bavuma and Petersen partnership was a delight to watch but at the same time it was threatening India, so they needed a wicket at that stage and Shami delivered it,” he added.

Sunil Gavaskar recalls Mohammed Shami’s 2018 spell against South Africa in Johannesburg

Shami was the joint-highest wicket-taker with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada in the 2018 South Africa vs India Test series. All three pace bowlers had 15 wickets to their name.

Shami bowled a magnificent spell of 5/28 in the final Test in Johannesburg as India won their solitary Test of the series by 63 runs.

Gavaskar recalled the performance of Shami at the Wanderers and cited the message of Ravi Shastri to the Indian pacer.

“At the Wanderers, the last time around in 2018, was when they actually got stuck into him apparently because till then he hadn’t really delivered. They said to him that on this pitch if you’re not going to take wickets then… So the word is and I am not too sure that Ravi gave him a rocket. And then he came out and destroyed South Africa. Sometimes you know, you need to put an arm around a player, sometimes you’ve got to just get stuck into him,” Gavaskar mentioned.

South Africa openers Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada got the Indian openers early in the second innings. Indian skipper Virat Kohli (14*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (9*) stood firm at the crease as India gained a lead of 70 runs at the end of Day 2.

Also Read: IND vs SA: Mohammed Shami Is A Fine-Tuned Engine At The Moment – Morne Morkel