From mentor to match-winner: How Shami's fortunes turned in World Cup 2023

It is never easy for a bowler to be conveyed ahead of the World Cup that his role in the team is to help other bowlers evolve and develop into match-winners. Nobody wants to hear that they are not the match-winner. Mohammed Shami’s World Cup started on those lines only as he was tasked to help the other pacers in the team from outside the playing field.

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Indian captain Rohit Sharma, speaking ahead of the ODI World Cup final against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19, 2023, confirmed that Shami was not part of India’s scheme of things initially. 

Also Read: IND vs AUS Final: Why Rohit wants to win the World Cup trophy for Dravid?

“It was tough for him to not play the initial part of the World Cup, looking at him being one of the senior bowlers for us. But he was there for the team. He was there to help Siraj, he was there to help Bumrah in whatever ways he could,” Rohit said about Shami’s role in the team during the initial phase of the World Cup 2023. 

“And that shows the quality of him, you know, being the team man that he is. And it was very clear, we had a chat with him about why he missed out and everything,” he added. 

But as they say, hard work never goes to waste and an opportunity arrived for Shami when Hardik Pandya was injured and India needed a pacer who could bowl 10 overs and take wickets too. Rohit said that Shami was working on the sidelines and impressed all to take note of him.

From being called into the playing 11 during the India vs New Zealand clash in Dharamsala, Shami never looked back. “On the sidelines, he was working on his bowling. And then, I mean, the results are there for everyone to see how he has come back from that. That shows the kind of mental space that Shami was in before the World Cup and even now,” said Rohit about the pacer from Bengal, who is currently the highest wicket-taker in World Cup 2023. 

In the first match itself in this World Cup, the Indian pacer picked a five-wicket haul, his second of the World Cups. He was the first Indian to take two five-wicket hauls in the World Cup. But that didn't end there, he claimed two more. Against Sri Lanka, he ended with figures of 5/18, but it was the semi-final that transformed him into the real match-winner. H took seven wickets and finished with the best figures for any Indian bowler in World Cup history. 

Speaking about Shami’s great comeback, Rohit said, “It's not easy not being part of the team and then coming out and doing the job in the way that he has done for us. Says a lot about him. But when you're playing a team sport, people do understand why x, y, and z have to miss out on certain occasions, because there's a lot that goes into getting your 11 right. That depends everything on your conditions, the opposition, and the balance that you want to create. It was just that and then once the opportunity opened up for him, he was right there. And that we all can see with his performance.”

Shami has 23 wickets in six matches, the most by any Indian bowler in a single edition of the World Cup, surpassing Zaheer Khan’s record of 21 wickets in 2011 wicket. He is also the quickest to reach 50 wickets in World Cups. He reached the milestone in only 17 matches and is the first Indian bowler to get there. He has played only three World Cups, the least by any bowler with 50 wickets or more in the ODI World Cups. 

Shami, after the semi-final against New Zealand opened up about how he felt after performing so well in the World Cup. “I was waiting for my turn. I wasn't playing much white ball cricket. I feel amazing. This is a huge platform. I was always looking to cash in on the chance I have been given,” he said. The chance is right there for Shami to write history and become one of the most celebrated comeback stories.