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“I want to perform for the team in all formats,” Mohammed Shami had said in one of our conversations last October at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). “I am not bothered about the colour of the ball. Any time the selectors, coaching staff, captain show faith by giving the ball to me, all I want to do is to fulfill my responsibility as a bowler. I don’t think too much about records and all, or which format I am playing. If you are playing for India, you have to give your best. That’s it.”
What he also said was that wearing the blue jersey and bowling for India is the dream that still drives him. And when it is an ICC tournament, more so. Make no mistake, Shami is not at his best yet. He isn’t touching 140 kmph. But what he does have is a wealth of experience. And guile. We saw it against Bangladesh. A five-wicket haul in the very first match of the Champions Trophy – India couldn’t have expected anything better in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
Bangladesh had kind of recovered with the 150-run partnership between Towhid Hridoy and Jaker Ali, and were looking poised to get 250 or even more. That was when Rohit Sharma went back to Shami knowing that he needed a wicket. He needed a bowler who could keep the Tigers pegged back and once again put them under pressure. Clearly, Shami was his man. Length and use of the crease – it was a spell of bowling that was accomplished more in the mind than anything else.
A fit and lean Shami has perhaps done enough to push his captain to play him in every game. Yes, even after Bumrah is fit and back, making Shami sit out isn’t really an option. Frankly, that’s what it is about. To be the best version of yourself on the biggest stage of all.
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But then, Shami will know that the job isn’t done yet. With a good start, India have earned a cushion for themselves. But then, Pakistan are up next. A match which is always a must-win. More so now, with Pakistan on the brink. Shami will know that the stage is set. One more good spell and his comeback will be complete. He will also know that the knockouts are a very different proposition. You won’t get a Bangladesh there. And that’s where you can’t afford a slip-up.
Sample this from him.
“The league and knockout stage of a tournament are completely different,” Shami had told me a few months ago. “You can afford slip-ups in the league stage but the margin for error is very small when it comes to the knockout stage.”
With him getting better, the statement could well be flipped around. There isn’t any margin for error for the batters, and that’s what India would want to see on Sunday when Rohit’s team take the field in the high-octane clash against Pakistan. A defining spell could well be the gift that Shami gives his fans. In doing so, he could end up knocking Pakistan out of the competition.
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