Finally, the wait is over and Mohammed Shami is back in India colours. From his perspective, it was an agonising last few weeks. Each time he stepped out to bowl for Bengal, there were talks that he was ready to be back. And yet things did not work out. He was desperate to play in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and may I say a fit Mohammed Shami in Sydney would have meant 160 could have been enough for India. He would have been India’s answer to Scott Boland and Jasprit Bumrah too would have got some much needed support.
The skill and the experience is unmatched and India missed him badly in Australia. But then that’s sport. There is never a set script. Never a linear story. A narrative that can be predicted. Since bowling at his absolute best in the 2023 World Cup, Shami hasn’t played a single game for India. Surreal but true.
I am not a fan of bilateral T20 cricket, unless it is the World Cup year. I think these games are just a waste of time and at best a money-making exercise. But this time round, with Shami there, things are different. Champions Trophy is surely happening for him and I don’t think India will play him in more than three games in the T20 series. Rather he’d be picked for the 50-over games and they would serve as a dress rehearsal for the ICC event.
So, when Shami runs in at the Eden Gardens on 22 January, it will be much more than a comeback. Rather it will be the return of one of India’s best of all time and ignite hopes that we could yet again see him in red-ball cricket as well. It will mean Bumrah will get back his bowling partner and all of a sudden the attack has a very potent look.
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For Shami, it will mean a lot. There is nothing greater than wearing the national colours. To bowl in his home conditions, even more so at his home ground will be a huge moment. More so with the Champions Trophy just round the corner.
What has impressed me most about Shami is his persistence. There have been setbacks one after the other and yet he hasn’t given up. Each stone was converted into a milestone and the effort was doubled. He wanted it and he needed it. Clearly, he wouldn’t stop short and that’s what is excellent to see. For every youngster, this comeback is a story. How a great bowler still has the hunger and the determination. How he still wants it as badly. How he still thinks wearing the India colours matters much more than anything else including IPL monies.
The Mohammed Shami story is not over yet. Rather, a new beginning comes with a lot of promise. A few pain-free T20 games and all of his fans will start to dream: To see him run in against Pakistan and also perhaps against England in June. After all, sport isn’t always cruel! The dream is on and Shami is living it.