The Indian team is currently facing a big ask Down Under. Having lost the first Test at Adelaide in an unprecedented way, the visitors have several issues to face as well. One of the major ones is pacer Mohammed Shami being ruled out of the remainder of the series.
But why or will Team India miss their seamer? One hundred and eighty wickets in 50 Test matches with an average of 27.6 barely scratches the surface for an answer that is pivotal in understanding how the Indian pace attack works. And who exactly is Mohammed Shami, in numbers.
Shami in two eras
Mohammed Shami made his Test debut on 6th November 2013. And proved straight away that he meant business, picking nine wickets on his debut at the Eden Gardens against West Indies. The 30-year old’s wickets tally beams an average of 1.89 wickets per innings. The graph suggests, he’s barely gone below the 1.5 mark in any series, which is pretty good considering that he’s played a good amount of his games away from home.
There are many ways to understand the journey of Mohammed Shami in becoming the bowler that he is today. Perhaps the most interesting will be to look at how the arrival of a competitor and teammate helped him push his game.
Before Jasprit Bumrah made his debut, Mohammed Shami took an average of 1.82 wickets per innings. Post-Bumrah’s debut that number has gone up to 1.97. In fact, the right arm-pacer has taken 47.2% of his Test wickets so far since that day.
Coincidentally, six months after Bumrah’s debut, just before the maiden Test match against Afghanistan, Shami failed the yo-yo fitness test. A result which in the words of Shanker Basu, the then Strength and Conditioning coach of Team India, was a blessing – The introduction of “Mohammed Shami 2.0!”
Share of wickets (countries, wins, and defeats)
Every fast bowler has to be versatile to adapt to all conditions with the modern game becoming highly competitive and analytical.
Shami’s success overseas hasn’t been indifferent to his performance at home. He has picked 48.88% of his Test wickets in SENA countries. The Indian pacer has particularly enjoyed bowling in Australia, picking 31 scalps in 8 Test matches, which is more than any other country he has played in, except of course at home.
As far as winning contributions are concerned, 52.7% of Shami’s wickets have come in matches that India have won. His average in wins is just above 20, complimenting with a strike rate of 40.6. In defeats, he does have some wickets to show, but his average (36.72) and strike rate (63.8) tell the significant difference.
Mr. Reliable
Strictly speaking of numbers, 2019 was the best year for Indian pacers in the history of Test cricket. The famous quartet of Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Shami took a total of 95 wickets in an unbeaten year run for India in Test cricket (7 wins and one draw).
All four of them were in the top five fast bowlers average list in 2019. Neil Wagner was the odd one out in that space. If we look at average as a metric, Shami was behind his fellow pacers. However, one point which cannot be neglected is that he has played more games than any of them in the calendar year. In fact, he featured in all the Test matches that India played in 2019.
He also had the most number of overs per game (24.3). Slightly more than Bumrah (24.0), who played the least number of matches in the lot. So the question is could India have done it without Shami?
Like the former Pakistan pacer and Shami’s mentor during his early KKR days, Wasim Akram once said, “If someone wants to be a really good fast bowler, he will have to bear with the scorching sun and heat.” – Something Shami has done for India. Something India will miss going ahead in the series.