Indian Bowling Coach Praises Mohammed Shami’s Rare Bowling Skill, Says ‘Shami Has Acquired It With Tremendous Hard Work’

Indian pace maestro Mohammad Shami emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the recently concluded ODI World Cup, securing 24 wickets in just seven games he played. Throughout the tournament, Shami dominated the batters with his brilliant swing and seam, achieving three five-wicket hauls in the process.

Shami became India's highest wicket-taker in the history of the competition, with a total of 55 wickets in 18 innings spanning across three ODI World Cups.

India's bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey lauded Shami's exceptional talent, saying that Shami's ability to consistently land the ball in an upright seam position is a rare skill that no coach can create.

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"Well, if I tell you that coaches could create a bowler like Shami, then I would be lying. If a bowler can land it on upright seam every time then every other bowler in the world will be Shami," PTI quoted Mhambrey as saying ahead of India’s tour of South Africa.

According to Mhambrey, Shami's ability to maintain an upright seam consistently is a skill acquired through tremendous hard work. He highlighted the rarity of seaming the ball and explained why it is no easy skill to acquire.

"It is a skill that Shami has acquired with tremendous hardwork and developed himself into the bowler that he is,” Mhambrey said.

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"Bowling ball after ball on the seam and with that perfect wrist position and getting it to move either ways is a rare skill set. A lot of bowlers, even if they land deliveries on the seam, will see the ball straightening up after pitching," Indian bowling coach added.

Mhambrey also praised Jasprit Bumrah for his unique action and the ability to make the ball move in various directions with the same action.

"Even Bumrah with his unusual action gets the ball to move in or away with same action. This is an art and lot of hard work and dedication goes into perfecting the art," Mhambrey explained.

He cited instances like bowling out Sri Lanka for 50 and repeating similar feats against South Africa as surreal achievements.

"I mean to bowl out Sri Lanka for 50 and then to repeat it against a team like South Africa, score 320 odd and bowl them out for 80. That was surreal. Obviously with an attack like ours, we expected them to do well but to put up such a performance on the biggest stage for such a sustained period was something that was really commendable," Mhambrey said.

India will play their first T20I of the tour on December 10 in Durban. Suryakumar Yadav will be leading the Indian side in the shortest format.

(With Inputs From PTI)