‘The best fast bowler in the world’: Akhtar names best but it is not Bumrah!

Shoaib Akhtar has lavished praise on team India speedster Mohammed Shami when he posted a video on his YouTube channel after the latter’s heroics lead to India’s victory in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand

The Rawalpindi express said,

Shami is a very clever bowler. He is the find of India and best fast bolwer in the world. In any situation, he always excels whether a world cup match or T20 in New Zealand

Mohammad Shami: A find

Shami just had his breakthrough into the Indian setup in late 2013 and flourished in tests under Virat Kohli. He was a Go-To bowler for the skipper and even in limited-overs was a constant threat to a batsman.

Mohammad Shami was restricted to the longest format alone for just a little while in between but as his class and temperament stood out it was obvious to play him in all 3 formats. Shami has all the skills a fast bowler needs in his armoury and has rightly been named as the “Find of India” and  “The best fast bowler in the world”. These comments coming from The fastest Bowler ever to have played the game is quite an achievement for Shami.

Lethal Combo!

A few days earlier after the conclusion of the second T20I between India and New Zealand, the opponent’s captain Williamson and keeper Seifert had praised Bumrah for his incredible death bowling. Shami was an unsung hero then. While Jasprit Bumrah gave away just 21 runs in his 4 over spell Shami gave away just 22. Fast forward a couple of days and after the third T20I, it was Shami’s heroics that extended the game to a super over. Safe to say that Shami and Bumrah have been a lethal combo not only in this series but for vast periods of last 3 years.

Heroic act of Shami
With 9 runs needed off the last over as a bowler, you are definitely under pressure. Right? Then, when a six is scored of the first ball it is definitely game over. Right? Wrong! Not when you are Mohammed Shami. With just 3 runs to defend in 5 balls, Shami took the wickets of set batsman Williamson and bowled a couple of dot balls to Seifert ( They sneaked a bye off the penultimate ball).

Seriously, what a game! @MdShami11 ‘s over won us the game. Valiant effort from Williamson though.

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) January 29, 2020

Shami used all his experience and realized that going to the yorker didn’t pay off so he bowled short of length deliveries which the batsmen edged and missed. Finally, with 1 run required of 1 ball, Shami had the batsman Taylor bowled. This great composure has earned Shami all the praise from Shoiab Akhtar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdHyikglgHE