Mohammed Shami opens up on tough times last year

The last one year is nothing less than a rollercoaster ride for India pacer Mohammed Shami. His career was tangled in tough times when his estranged wife came out in public to make some sensational allegations on him that also made BCCI stall giving him a contract. The turn of events affected his performance too as he failed miserably for Delhi Capitals in the last IPL. Things then went from bad to worse when he failed to clear the yo-yo test and was dropped from the team for the Afghanistan Test.

But as they say, “fortune favours the brave,” Shami’s fortunes favoured him too. He soon cleared the mandatory fitness test and has not looked back since then. Shami was one of India’s most impressive performers during the tour of England and Australia. During this phase, he also made a comeback to the ODI team and went on to cement it. The Bengal star recently made it to India’s World Cup squad and is expected to lead the attack in England and Wales.

His form in the ongoing IPL is equally impressive. With 19 wickets from 14 games, he is currently the fourth highest wicket-taker this season. Shami has now opened up about the tough phase of his career last year.  In a recent interview, he said that while everyone was talking about his failure to clear that test, not many realised that he was not in the right place to perform on the field. He also said that while there was pressure, he worked hard on his fitness to turn things around.

“I had some family problems at that point of time. The fitness test didn’t go well and I accept that I failed. But then, I wasn’t even in that frame of mind where I could focus on the match against Afghanistan. I wasn’t mentally prepared and had to undergo the Yo-Yo Test at that point in time and I flunked,” Mohammed Shami was quoted as saying by CricketCountry.

“Pressure was there, but I kept myself motivated and told myself that I have to work on my fitness and come back strongly. I have reduced 12-14 kilos since then and you can see that not just in my physical appearance, but it also reflects in the rhythm and momentum that I have found in my bowling,” he added.

Shami on turnaround in white-ball cricket

Not very long ago, Mohammed Shami was widely considered as a red-ball specialist. However, things have changed now. Shami has now said the performance against Australia helped him gain confidence before the performance in IPL helped him gain momentum.

“I hadn’t been playing white-ball cricket for a while but in the series against Australia, I gained in confidence and just looked to keep that going even in the IPL. Also, playing consistently for KXIP also helped me. Getting to play day-in day-out helps you perform and get the right momentum.

“I was just waiting for an opportunity as I had a good record in white-ball cricket. Waited for almost two years and I had it in mind that when I did get the chance, I will show what I could do,” said Shami.

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