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Mohammed Shami burst into the international arena after displaying an unrivaled skill set and once he arrived in the big league, the right-arm pacer took giant strides in securing his place among the elite fast bowlers in contemporary cricket. His ability to swing the new ball and exploit reverse swing with the old cherry made established batters look like greenhorns. After dominating Test cricket, Shami soon evolved into an all-format lethal weapon for Team India, and the veteran pacer is now gearing up to participate in his second T20 World Cup.
It's important to note that Shami was initially not named in the 15-member India's square for the World Cup but with injury to Jasprit Bumrah, the 32-year-old speedster was promoted to the main square from reserves.
Early life
Mohammed Shami was born on September 03, 1990, in Armoha, Uttar Pradesh. Born into a farmer's family, it was Shami's father Tauseef Ali, who wanted his son to become a cricketer as he himself was a fast bowler during his youth. Shami's life changed overnight at the age of 15 when he was taken to Badruddin Siddique (his first coach) in Moradabad. From thereon, it was Shami's talent and dedication to hone his skill set that opened the doors to stardom.
"When I first saw him (Shami) bowling at the nets as a 15-year-old kid, I knew this boy is not ordinary. So I decided to train him. For one year I prepared him for the UP trials, as we don t have club cricket over here. He was very co-operative, very regular and very hard-working. He never took a day off from training. During the under 19 trials he bowled really well, but due to politics, he missed out on selection. They asked me to bring him next year, but at that moment I didn't want Shami to miss one year. So I advised his parents to send him to Kolkata," Badruddin Siddique had told CricketCountry.
In 2005, Shami's coach Badruddin sent him to Kolkata to enhance his chances of getting selected in the state side, and as it turned out, the decision was a masterstroke.
Domestic career
The right-arm pacer started his domestic career when he was selected in Bengal's Ranji Trophy squad in 2010. In his first Ranji game, the speedster bagged three wickets. After toiling hard and relentlessly striving to get better, Shami's biggest break came in 2012 when Abu Nechim was injured for a Duleep Trophy clash. Shami replaced Nechim and bagged 11 wickets in the match, helping East Zone secure the coveted trophy. From thereon, Shami has selected in India A squad and his performances forced the national selectors to include the pacer in the senior national team.
Test Career
Shami made his Test debut against West Indies in Kolkata and it turned out to be a dream debut for the pacer. In the first innings, he bagged four wickets while earning a maiden five-fer when he came to bowl in the second innings. In his first-ever Test match, Shami bagged nine wickets and conceded 118 runs. It was Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series and Shami left a long-lasting impact.
Since then, Shami has represented India in 60 Test matches in his career so far, picking 216 wickets in the process. He has six five-wicket hauls to his name while his average of 27.45 and strike rate of 50.1 is a testament to his impeccable contribution toward Team India's success in red-ball cricket.
ODI career
Before making his Test debut, Shami got a taste of ODI cricket in a match against Pakistan in Delhi in 2013. He bowled immensely well in his first game for India and registered figures of 1/23 in 9 overs in a low-scoring thriller. So far in his career, the right-arm pacer has played 82 matches, bagging 152 wickets in the process. He has bagged five wickets in a match once in ODIs while his economy rate of 5.60 is terrific considering the phases in which Shami does the bulk of his bowling.
The right-arm pacer is among the two Indian bowlers to have bagged a hat-trick in ODI World Cup. Shami achieved the milestone in 2019 against Afghanistan. He finished the competition with 14 wickets to his name. Meanwhile, Shami was also part of India's squad in the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia, where he bagged 17 wickets in the campaign.
T20I career
When it comes to T20Is, Shami hasn't played a lot of matches for the country in the shortest format of the game. In his career so far, the right-arm pacer has played just 17 T20Is and has taken 18 wickets. He made his T20I debut against Pakistan in Mirpur in 2014 during the World Cup.
IPL career
Shami has played for four teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) - Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Punjab King and Gujarat Titans. It would be fair to say that the right-arm pacer has enjoyed a good amount of success in the cash-rich league. He was one of the architects behind Gujarat Titan's title-winning IPL 2022 campaign where he finished with 20 wickets. In his IPL career so far, Shami has bagged 99 wickets in 93 matches at an economy rate of 8.52.
