It was the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) annual prize distribution ceremony, and Mohammed Shami was a special invitee. As host, it was my job to engage him, Ajay Jadeja and Sandeep Patil in a 45-minute chat show. From a news standpoint, Shami was the go-to man. When is he expected to make a comeback? Will he play a couple of Ranji Trophy matches soon for Bengal? How confident is he about the Australia tour and how will he prepare in the next couple of months?
There were a number of questions I needed to ask Shami. And the best thing was that he was in a fine mood and willing to engage. His answers were well thought out and he was fully switched on.
When asked when we could expect him back, Shami turned a tad philosophical. “Jitna jaldi aap NCA se nikal sakte ho utna achha hai. NCA naam sun ke hi man kharab ho jata hai. Matlab aap abhi fit nahi huye ho [The sooner you can leave the NCA, the better. Just hearing the name NCA worsens your mood. It means you’re still not fit],” he said. “You want to get fit as soon as possible. You want to come back and do what you love doing, and I hope I will be back soon and play a couple of Ranji Trophy matches for Bengal.”
When I asked him about the injury and if it had created self-doubt, Shami was at his best. “During the 2015 World Cup and again the 2023 World Cup, I was carrying injuries,” he said. “There was pain in my heel, but the only question I asked doctors was that how confident were they that I wouldn’t collapse in the middle of a game. I was not ready to let my team suffer by breaking down, and that was the only concern. When they said I would need to bear the pain, I was fine with it. My threshold is very high, and I know I can play with pain. You don’t often get an opportunity to play a World Cup on home soil and do well.
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“I needed to make the opportunity count and did not want to regret it later. I was ready to sacrifice a few months after the World Cup if I was able to serve my country during the tournament. Yahi baat hai. Aapko self-doubt nahi hona chahiye. Agar aap khud pe believe karte ho and you know ki aap yeh cheez kar sakte ho, aap zarur kar paoge [That’s the thing. You shouldn’t have self-doubt. If you believe in yourself and think you can do something, you will definitely do it]. You have to work the hardest to do so, but there is no doubt you will be able to. And that’s why there should never be self-doubt when you want something badly.”
The best answer was, however, kept for the Australia tour. When I asked him for his thoughts on the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a series that is already being talked about in world cricket circles, Shami was quickly off the blocks. “We have beaten Australia twice,” said Shami. “In 2018 and 2020-21. And the most important thing is we have done so in Australia. They may not have expected us to do so. And yet we did. So when we travel down under, Australia need to think about us and not the other way round. Unhe chinta honi chahiye India ko leke, hume nahi [They need to worry about India, not us].”
While he was very calm while saying so, one could sense an inner steel. It is this resolve that India will need in abundance when Jasprit Bumrah and Shami operate from either end against the Australian batting line-up in Perth in the first Test match of the series in November. Shami knows the country will need him down under. And he is doing all he can to be ready. For, that’s where he belongs, far away from the NCA.
Also Read: Australia should be worried about us: Mohammed Shami