Mohammed Shami

 ( 1990 Births ) 

He took 15 wickets in three Tests during India's 2014–15 tour of Australia, and went on to become the 20th Indian fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets, reaching the milestone in 29 Tests. Stats: Fastest Indian pacers to 100 Test wickets , CricTracker, 14 January 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2021

In 2018, he toured England with India, playing in all five Tests. He finished the series with 16 wickets, including six in the fourth Test.

Shami was the joint-tenth highest wicket taker in the tournament, along with Jofra Archer, with 40 wickets in total. He was the highest wicket taker among the Indian pacers and the second highest of all Indian bowlers, behind only Ravichandran Ashwin.

Shami played in the Test Championship final against New Zealand at The Rose Bowl in Southampton. He took four wickets in the first innings, but New Zealand won the match by 8 wickets.

During the first innings of the first Test of the India-South Africa 2021–22 Test series, Shami took 5 wickets for 44 runs and became the fifth Indian pacer (and with the fewest number of deliveries – 9896) to take 200 wickets in Test cricket. For his performances, the former head coach of India, Ravi Shastri lauded him as 'The Sultan of Bengal' on Twitter. At the end of the match, which India eventually won, the Test captain of team India, Virat Kohli eulogised Shami for taking 8 wickets total in the match saying "For me he's in the best three seamers in the world at the moment." He finished the series with 14 wickets from 3 matches as the leading wicket taker of India in the series.

In India's tour of New Zealand in 2014, Shami took 11 wickets in ODIs at an Bowling average of 28.72. On 5 March 2014, during 2014 Asia Cup, against Afghanistan, Shami reached the target of 50 ODI wickets in his 29th innings. He ended the tournament with 9 wickets at 23.59.

After losing the 2014 Test series by 3–1 against England, India won the ODI series by 3–1 in which Shami took 8 wickets at 24.16. In 5th ODI he bowled a good spell in the death overs, with tight line and length and middle-stump yorkers. After the match, cricket pundits called him the future of Indian bowling.

Shami took 10 wickets at 17.40 against West Indies in October 2014. In the 2nd ODI of the series he got his best bowling figure in ODIs as he picked up 4 wickets for 36 runs in his 9.3 overs.

He was in the 15-man squad for 5 ODIs against Sri Lanka in November 2014, but he was replaced by Dhawal Kulkarni due to a toe injury he suffered during the West Indies series.

For his performances in 2014, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC. Hat-trick in World Cup - Mohammad Shami has taken a hat-trick in the ICC Cricket World Cup, making him one of the few Indian bowlers to achieve this feat. Key role in ICC tournaments - His performance in the 2015, 2019, and 2023 Cricket World Cups has been exceptional.

Shami returned to the squad for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy after a two-year hiatus due to a shoulder injury. But due to lack of game time, he did not feature in any of the matches of the tournament.

Playing in four games throughout the series, Shami took nine wickets at an average of 15.33 and was named man of the series. According to Sportstar, this series rejuvenated the white ball career of Shami, helping him to book a spot in the 2019 Cricket World Cup squad.

With 42 wickets from 21 matches in 2019, Shami finished the year as the leading wicket-taker in ODIs.

Shami was included in India's 15-man squad for the 2023 Asia Cup. He played his first match in this series against Nepal replacing Jasprit Bumrah who had to leave the squad and return to Mumbai for personal reasons. In September 2023, in the first ODI of Australia's tour of India, ahead of the 2023 Cricket World Cup, Shami took 5/51 which was his best ODI return at that point.

His best ODI performance came when he took 7/57 against New Zealand in the semi-final at Wankhede Stadium on 15 November 2023 winning the Player of the Match and becoming the first Indian bowler to reach 50 World Cup wickets ( in 17 innings) and the first Indian bowler to claim a 7 wicket-haul in a World Cup match. In the same match, he also set the record for the most hauls of four wickets in World Cup matches (8) and the most five-wicket hauls (4) surpassing Mitchell Starc's record who had previously held the record with 3 fifers

Shami finished the 2023 World Cup as the leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets in 7 innings. He surpassed the record of most wickets by an Indian in a single edition of the World Cup, going past Zaheer Khan's tally of 21 in 2011 Cricket World Cup.

He was included in the side in 2014 tour of England, following the Test series, in July. He played in the lone match of the series and finished with 3 wickets conceding 38 runs. Shami returned to the squad for 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after spending more than two years recuperating from the shoulder injury, but due to lack of form and game time, he did not feature in any of the matches of the tournament.

Discussing the inclusion of Shami in team India's squad, ESPNcricinfo wrote: "Bowling at the death is probably what gave Shami an edge over Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur both, who have had greater success up top. Shami has got 14 death-over wickets since IPL 2020, which is the same as Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj combined. He can move the ball both ways, as he's shown ample times in the past, and as a bonus, he has the undefinable ability to be unplayable regardless of format when he gets into his rhythm".

Shami went wicketless in the first two matches of the tournament, before setting career-best figures in consecutive matches against Afghanistan (with the figures of 3/32) and Scotland with 3/15.