Shami takes 5 wickets in second innings — first by an Indian pacer at home since 1996

By Anand Vasu

You must be referring to Mohammad Shami. These were the words WV Raman, now the Indian women’s team coach and once the Bengal coach, kept repeating when an upcoming fast bowler from his team was referred to as Shami Ahmed. Back in 2010, Raman, pushed for Shami’s inclusion, and for reasons unknown he was listed as Shami Ahmed in official records and nobody bothered to check with the young man if this was correct.

Exactly what did Raman see that others missed?


“The pace that he generated and the attitude that he had set him apart from most other bowlers in the domestic circuit, at least at that time,” Raman told ET Sport.

“He also had an excellent release of the ball, a naturally strong wrist position. The awkward bounce that surprised batsmen was something not too many bowlers had. He was special.”

Faf du Plessis is the most experienced batsman in the South African team by some distance. He’s also the best batsman, whether against pace or spin, at home or away. And yet, he was made to look silly on Sunday when Mohammad Shami, running in with good rhythm, using the upright and slanted seam to great effect, knocked the off pole out of the ground.

It was not the mere shattering of the stumps that caused du Plessis to walk off red faced. Rather, it was the manner in which Shami had conned the batsman, landing the ball so far outside the off stump that it was inconceivable that it would be a threat in any form. Du Plessis picked the line and length early, as good batsmen do, and resolutely shouldered arms.

The nightmare then began as du Plessis watched in horror as the ball curled back in and just kept coming till it crashed into the stump.

Shami at his best can do this like almost no other Indian bowler. Occasionally Jasprit Bumrah will get one to jag back similarly, but Shami is the only one who can do this consistently.

It was not a surprise then that Shami hit the stumps three more times in the course of the innings.

It was Shami who ripped the heart out of the South African batting lineup, Temba Bavuma pushed onto back foot and then kneecapped by a ball that kept a touch low and Quinton de Kock’s inside edge beaten by one that straightened off the deck.

At 70 for 8, it looked as though South Africa were going to be knocked over without much of a fight in their second dig. But, Senuran Muthusamy, impressive in both innings on debut, and Dane Piedt showed up their more illustrious colleagues with a 91-run partnership that lasted 194 balls.

And then, of course, it was that man Shami once more. Piedt, at-tempting to drive a ball from Shami that was floated out a touch wider, only inside edged back onto his stumps.

On song after settling into his bowling in the second innings — he had struggled in the first innings unable to warm up properly after being used in short spells —Shami then made it five for the innings, having Kagiso Rabada caught behind to end South Africa’s resistance on 191, Muthusamy unbeaten in the match and stranded on 49 in the final innings.

The haul was Shami’s third fivewicket haul in the fourth innings since 2018, with no other bowler matching this feat. What’s remarkable is Shami’s second innings numbers: in 15 innings he has 40 wickets at a strike rate of 31and an average of only 17.7.

Just what makes him so dangerous late in the game?

“Shami has been a strike bowler for us in the second innings consistently now,” said Virat Kohli after the game.

“If you see all his four-five-wicket hauls, they come in the second innings invariably when the team needs it, the ball is reversing a bit, that's his strength. All the guys stood up.

The batting heroes were obvious but the bowlers had it tougher in this game, to keep going in these conditions. So they deserve a lot of credit.”

India have long hungered for a quick bowler who could be effective at home, and in Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav they now have a quartet from which they can choose, depending on the conditions. If the fast bowling cupboard overflows now, the bareness of the past can be judged by the fact that the last time an Indian quick bowler had five wickets in the fourth innings of a home Test was back in 1996, when Javagal Srinath knocked South Africa over in Ahmedabad.

Make no mistake, the world now knows Shami’s name, and certainly takes the trouble to get it right.