18 Facts about Mohammad Shami - The spearhead of the Indian bowling attack

Mohammad Shami has been a key member of the Indian team ever since he has made his debut. He has been phenomenal in all forms of the game. Not only does he bowl with great pace but hits the deck hard to. His bowling often sees him fetch great assistance from the surface as well. Shami is one of the most renowned components of reverse swing bowling in India.

He broke into the scene after having played very few First Class matches. But his journey has not been that easy. He has overcome all odds to reach where he proudly sits today. In very less time, he has emerged as the go-to man of the Indian bowling attack. He spearheads the Indian bowling.

Here are facts about Mohammad Shami:

1. Roots and beginnings

Mohammad Shami Ahmed was born on 3 September 1990 at Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, India. His roots are from Sahaspur village in Amroha. His father Tousif Ali is a farmer. Tousif himself was a pace bowler. His three brothers and a sister, all wished to be fast bowlers.

2. Meeting his first coach

Shami’s father Tousif took him to Moradabad, a city 22 km away from his village. He introduced him to Badruddin Siddique and asked Siddique to train his son. Shami was 15-year-old then. Siddique was very impressed with his talent.

3. Politics over performance

Despite training very well and having worked hard, Mohammad Shami failed to make it to the Uttar Pradesh U19 team due to politics in the selection affairs.

4. The big switch

A disheartened coach Siddique advised Shami’s parents to send him to Kolkata in 2005 in a bid to get better opportunities. He joined the Dalhousie Athletic Club where former CAB assistant secretary Debabrata Das noticed him. He was very impressed with the young lad.

5. Getting a big offer

Debabrata Das drafted Mohammad Shami to his own club, Town Club, and offered him a contract of Rs. 75000. Since Shami had no place to stay, Das took him to his own residence. However, Shami failed to make it to the U22 Bengal team.

6. Returning from a point of no return

When Shami was not picked in the Bengal U22 team, Das asked one of the selectors, Samarban Banerjee to watch Shami bowl. Banerjee was very impressed with his consistency and drafted him in the Bengal U22 team.

7. Meeting the master and the love for the game

As Das proudly mentions, Shami never wanted money. All he wanted was to play. Das sent Shami to play for Mohun Bagan Club. There he got the opportunity to bowl to Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly then asked the management to take ‘special care’ of him.

8. Getting the Ranji Call up

It was only a matter of time that Mohammad Shami was drafted into the Bengal Ranji team in 2010. He made his debut against Assam and bagged 3 wickets.

9. Showing grit with the bat

After a successful domestic season, Shami made it to the India A side for West Indies tour in 2012. He shared a 73 run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara for the 10th wicket. The partnership helped India A win the unofficial Test.

10. Becoming a domestic juggernaut

In the 2012-13 Ranji season, Mohammad Shami emerged as one of the top performers. He scalped 4/36 and 6/71 against Hyderabad. Later, he hit 15* off mere 6 balls to win a thriller for Bengal. In the same season, he bagged 7/79 and 4/72 against Madhya Pradesh. During his spell in the first innings, he bagged a hat-trick too!

11. The IPL connect

Shami was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2011 IPL season as a rookie player. He was retained by the franchise for the next two seasons. He got his first game in 2013 season. In the 2015 season, he was bought by Delhi Daredevils at the auction for a whopping Rs. 4.25 crore.

12. Hitting the big stage

It was during the series against Pakistan in 2013 when Shami broke into the ODI squad. He bagged 1/23 in a tidy spell of 9 overs to impress everyone on his debut at Delhi.

13. Third fastest to fifty

During India’s clash against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2014, Mohammad Shami became the third fastest Indian bowler to 50 ODI wickets.

14. The World Cup hero

Shami emerged as one of the top performers for India in the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia. India had a good run in the tournament as they reached the semifinals before losing to the hosts. Shami bagged 17 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 17.29 and economy as low as 4.81. India were unbeaten in the tournament until their semifinal loss. The semifinal was the only occasion when Shami failed to pick up a wicket.

15. Dream Test debut at home ground

Shami made his Test debut against West Indies at Kolkata in November 2013. Kieron Powell became his first Test scalp. He returned with figures of 17-2-71-4 in the first innings. He was phenomenal in the second innings with his reverse swing. He emerged with figures of 13.1-0-47-5. A match stat of 9/118 was the most by an Indian pacer on debut. He overtook Munaf Patel’s 7/97 that he got in 2006.

16. Highest 10th wicket stand

In English summer of 2014, Mohammad Shami added 111 runs for the 10th wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar at Nottingham. This was the second highest 10th wicket partnership for India in Tests. He scored 51 in the innings.

17. What’s in the name

Shami made his debut as Shami Ahmed in his early days. However, days before his Test debut against West Indies, he revealed that his name was Mohammad Shami. Since then, he has played under the same name.

18. Personal life

Shami Ahmed got married to his model girlfriend Hasin Jahan on June 6, 2014. They were blessed with a baby girl in July 2015. They named her Aaira Shami.