NEWS
A smooth run-up, a steady acceleration, a jump that positions the body perfectly to release the ball and a good follow-through makes a perfect medium fast bowler. These words completely suit for Mohammed Shami.
While Shami’s run-up and action are fairly smooth, the secret behind his success lies in his wrist. There are few pace bowlers in the world who can claim to have the wrist strong and straight behind the ball every single time they bowl. Shami is one of them.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Mohammed Shami Ahmed |
| Age | 28 years |
| Sport Category | Cricket |
| Date of Birth | September 3, 1990 |
| Hometown | Amroha, Uttar Pradesh |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in |
| Batting Style | Right-handed |
| Bowling Style | Right-arm fast medium |
| Teams Played for | India, Bengal, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab |
Mohammed Shami’s father Tousif Ali was a fast bowler during his days. Shami is one of the four brothers from his family and each of them wanted to become a fast bowler but it was Shami who turned out to be the only one to have made the cut.
Shami hails from a village in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh but he plays for Bengal in domestic cricket and there’s an interesting story behind it.
In 2005, Shami’s father got to know about his bowling abilities and took him to Moradabad, which is 22 km from their village, to train him under a cricket coach named Badruddin Siddique. Shami was 15-year old and after knowing about his ability of bowling at good pace, Badruddin counselled his father to send him to Kolkata, where he began playing for Dalhousie Athletic Club.
He was under the apprenticeship of Debabrata Das in Kolkata to the degree of staying under his roof and made it to the U-22 Bengal side. After a specially conducted net session supervised by Sourav Ganguly, he was recognised as a gem and after a tough grind through the ranks, he got his chance to play from Bengal at the Ranji Trophy.
Proving his mettle at domestic level, Shami was selected for the West Indies A tour in 2012, where he impressed with his speed on flat surfaces. Days after days, he was proving to be one of the stand-out and versatile bowlers in the Indian domestic stint.
In 2013, Shami donned the blue jersey. Slowly but surely, he started to make noteworthy contributions in the Indian National Cricket team. With his ability to reverse, he became an indispensable asset to the limited-overs side, becoming the second-fastest Indian to 50 ODI wickets. World Cup 2015 proved the best tournament for him as he took 17 wickets becoming one of the highest wicket-takers in the tournament. He played the World Cup despite a knee injury.
Mohammed Shami made his Test debut against West Indies in November 2013 at Eden Gardens. He had a stellar debut, grabbing 9 wickets, the most by an Indian pacer on debut. He had a poor series at the 2014 tour of England with 5 wickets in 3 matches. He was a part of the 19-member squad for Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2014-15 where he played 3 matches and bagged 15 wickets.
Being a great artist of reverse swing along being equally good with the new and old ball, he is a potent fast bowler. He is a speedster who clocks the ball above 140 kph.
Mohammed Shami entered IPL when he was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the 2011 season of the league. However, Shami played a handful of matches in that season. He was retained by KKR in the next two seasons and was a part of the team that won the title in 2012.
In 2014, Delhi Daredevils bought him for Rs 4.25 crore. He was retained by the franchise in the 2015 edition of the IPL. He got good pace and bowled at 140 kmph and above. In the 11th season of IPL (2018), he signed the contract with Delhi Daredevils.
In 2019, Kings XI Punjab roped him in for Rs 4.40 crore.
Hailing from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, Mohammed Shami has three brothers and a younger sister. Mohammed Shami married his long-time girlfriend Hasin Jahan in 2014. The couple were blessed with a daughter in 2015 and named her Aaira.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) withheld Shami from their national contracts list as a result of the allegations over the family controversy. In March 2018, the BCCI included Mohammed Shami in Category B of its annual contracts list.
The contract in Category B makes him earn Rs. 3 crore. Likewise, he also adds his net worth from endorsing several brands. He has a contract of Rs 4.40 crore with his IPL club Kings XI Punjab. His net worth is estimated to be around $ 1.1 million (above Rs seven crore).
Being a fast bowler, it is sure to get injured. Mohammed Shami played the complete World Cup 2015 with pain and swelling in his left knee. After almost six months of the surgery, Shami started playing cricket again and was a part of 2015 Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. He missed Asia Cup, South Africa’s tour of India and got injured in the midway of England and New Zealand’s tour of India.
He was selected for India’s tour of South Africa and took 15 wickets in the 3-match series. In June 2018, he agonized again due to fitness.
Once again he came back in the Indian side and this time with some supreme fitness. He was part of the 10 out of 11 Test matches that India played against England, West Indies and Australia.
| Format | M | Inn | B | Runs | Wickets | BB | Econ | Avg | SR | 4W | 5W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test2013– | 40 | 77 | 7562 | 4254 | 144 | 6/56 | 3.37 | 29.5 | 52.5 | 7 | 4 |
| ODI2013– | 63 | 62 | 3231 | 2951 | 113 | 4/35 | 5.48 | 26.1 | 28.6 | 6 | 0 |
| T20I2014–17 | 7 | 7 | 142 | 250 | 8 | 3/38 | 10.56 | 31.2 | 17.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Format | M | Inn | NO | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test2013– | 40 | 56 | 17 | 433 | 51* | 11.1 | 582 | 74.4 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 16 |
| ODI2013– | 63 | 29 | 14 | 131 | 25 | 8.7 | 152 | 86.2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 6 |
| T20I2014–17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mohammed Shami Ahmed is the full name of Indian fast bowler. However, initially, when he made his debut for India, he was somehow called by the name Shami Ahmed. Later he clarified the confusion to one of the leading media networks.
He quoted, “I don’t know how my name got that tail. I’m Mohammed Shami, not Shami Ahmed.” However, till November 2013, Shami played professional cricket for three years under an incorrect name.
His career has seen a few ups and downs but now it seems like he has found his groove. Earlier he lacked the reliability of maintaining one line for extended periods of time but in 2018 world has seen him bowl long spells with the same discipline.
With an experience of overseas tours, a fitter and stronger Shami is setting his stage on fire. The shy teenager that had once boarded the train for Kolkata from Moradabad to pursue his dream is now a crucial member of the Indian bowling attack.
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