Mohammed Shami (L) and Ravindra Jadeja© AFP
Mohammed Shami was the top performer for the Indian cricket team during the first ODI encounter as he took a brilliant five-wicket haul to restrict Australia to 276 on Friday. He was quite impressive during his first spell and he came up in the death overs to clean up the tail-enders. The weather and humidity in Mohali left a number of Indian cricketers in slight discomfort and when the commentators asked Shami about the conditions after the innings, his hilarious response left everyone in splits.
“You guys were in the AC, I was there out in the heat. There was not much the fast bowlers were getting out of the wicket so the slower deliveries were a good option to turn to. If they land in the right areas, the results can really go in your favour. It’s important to mix things up. It’s good feeling to get wickets when you’re putting in so much effort. It’s good for the team and your own confidence.”
Shami displayed his artistry with impressive figures of 5 for 51, reminding all and sundry of his skills while helping India restrict Australia to 276 in the first ODI on Friday.
Shami, who doesn’t seem to feature in India’s first XI plans for the World Cup, literally made a statement with his second five-wicket haul in ODIs.
His performance also put tremendous pressure on the weakest link among pacers Shardul Thakur (0/78 in 10 overs), who has been selected in the 15, primarily due to his batting skills.
Shardul would consider himself unlucky that Shreyas Iyer dropped a dolly at mid-off when David Warner had hardly got off the blocks.
In conditions conducive for batting, India skipper KL Rahul opted to bowl and Shami was literally unplayable in his opening spell, and then came back to remove a set Steve Smith (41 off 60 balls) in a short second stint, to disturb the visiting team’s momentum.
Stockily built wicketkeeper Jos Inglis (45 off 45 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (29 off 21 balls) added 62 runs for the sixth wicket to take Australia past 250-run mark but it was certainly below par as Shami got Stoinis in the nick of time to put the brakes on their scoring.
(With PTI inputs)
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