The Shami Effect

For a cricketing nation historically starved of supremely skilled fast bowlers, watching Mohammed Shami run through the teams in this World Cup has been a jubilant experience

- Ravi Raj

In the list of momentous discoveries that happened by chance and went on to dramatically change the world, the inclusion of Mohammed Shami to the playing XI in the ongoing World Cup could be the latest addition. Shami had started out the event on the bench, watching Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah spearheading the Indian pace attack. Only after Hardik Pandya got injured in the most dramatic way while trying to stop a follow-back shot from Litton Das, the road for Shami's inclusion into the Indian team was paved.

There were never any doubts over Shami's quality and expertise, yet it was a decision that had every fan worrying because the lack of an extra all-rounder drastically reduced the batting depth. If India ever gets pushed to choppy waters, the lack of an extra batter might haunt them. The Indian team was aware of this dilemma, and yet they went ahead with the combination of six batters, an allrounder, and five bowlers. Shami, with his scintillating spells in every game, ensured that India never rue about the lack of a player who could contribute with a bat.

After six matches before the summit clash, Shami's bowling stats read 23 wickets at a mind-boggling average of nine. Against New Zealand, Shami has taken 12 wickets in two games, and his seven-wicket haul in the semi-final is now the best ODI bowling figures ever registered by an Indian bowler. Has cricket's pinnacle event ever seen a dominance of such stature, such magnitude by a fast bowler? More importantly, think of the elation that Indian cricket fans must be experiencing over witnessing their fast bowler, not the spinners nor the batters, winning them a game single-handedly with such an absurd margin, over and again. After all, this is the cricketing nation that had historically been starved of supremely skilled fast bowlers.