The history of the Indian cricket team is full of many such brave players who have brought glory to the country all over the world on the strength of their hard work, talent and struggle. When it comes to Indian bowling aggression, Mohammed Shami's name tops the list of select bowlers who have created fear in the minds of the opposing batsmen with their sharp bowling and seam positioning. But for some time now, there has been a strange situation of silence and confusion in the Indian cricket corridors, which is surprising every cricket lover. Despite achieving excellent fitness and consistently performing well in domestic cricket, Shami's repeated neglect in Team India has become a big question mark. When cricket legends and statisticians compared Shami's statistics with the great Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath, the facts that came out shocked everyone because Shami's statistics prove to be more lethal and effective than McGrath in many cases.
In the cricket world, Glenn McGrath is considered synonymous with accuracy, discipline and amazing wicket-taking ability. During his entire international career, McGrath had forced the big batsmen of world cricket to kneel with his bowling. But when recently the statistics of Mohammed Shami's Test and ODI career were analyzed, it became clear that Shami's strike rate and wicket taking average surpasses even a legend like McGrath in many ways. Shami's seam position, art of swinging the ball both ways and ability to take wickets in difficult times make him one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world. Despite this, when he is kept out of the Indian squad or his return is postponed, both fans and sports experts are left wondering on what basis such a match-winning bowler is being ignored.
Mohammed Shami, who was away from international cricket due to injury for a long time, turned to domestic cricket to prove his fitness. As soon as he entered the Ranji Trophy field, Shami presented such an example of his old rhythm and edge that the opposing teams lost their sweat. Playing on the domestic circuit, he once again proved that class never diminishes with his lethal bowling. His continuous loss of wickets in Ranji matches and his insistence on not allowing the batsmen to stay at the crease has forced the selectors to think. Now a debate has erupted from social media to cricket experts as to when a bowler is completely fit and is consistently giving match-winning performances for his home team, then what could be the justification for keeping him out of the national team.
At present, the challenging phase the Indian team is going through, the role of experienced bowlers becomes most important. Especially when the team goes on difficult tours abroad or there is pressure of ICC knockout matches, then there is a dire need of an experienced bowler along with Jasprit Bumrah who can single-handedly break the partnership. It is not possible overnight for young bowlers to compensate for the experience and variety that Mohammed Shami has. Be it giving initial shocks in the powerplay or providing reverse swing with the old ball in the death overs, Shami is considered an expert on every front. The biggest key to fulfill the experience that is missing in the current bowling combination of Team India, currently lies with Mohammed Shami, whom the selectors cannot ignore for long even if they want to.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the National Selection Committee will have to take many big and tough decisions in the coming days. Keeping in mind the upcoming Test series and big tournaments, the team management will have to field its best and most balanced eleven. The way Mohammed Shami has proved his fitness and bowling in consecutive home matches and Ranji Trophy matches, there is no logical obstacle left in his path. Cricket pundits clearly believe that in view of public pressure, testimony of statistics and the determination of Shami himself, the selectors will have to reconsider their old strategy. Very soon, it will be very interesting to see whether the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar gives Shami a chance to take the field in the blue jersey and Test whites once again or not, because his statistics and current form do not allow any kind of ignoring.