Mohammad Shami played 2nd Test while his daughter was in the ICU

The 2nd India vs New Zealand Test played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata wasn’t a usual Test match played in India where the spinners rule the roost but rather saw the faster bowlers dominate the proceedings. For India, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who grabbed a five-wicket haul in the first inning to stump the New Zealanders. In the second inning, his swing bowling partner Mohammad Shami took up the responsibility and racked up 3 wickets making effective use of reverse swing.

Shami picked a total of 6 wickets in the game and was a key contributor in the team’s success at his home ground. It was later discovered that the pacer was playing while his 14-month old daughter was in the Intensive Care Unit of the City hospital from the second day of the game.

While commentating in the game Sanjay Manjrekar had said, “We are delighted to have watched Shami for his excellent bowling in spite of the fact that he was going through hard times due to his daughter’s illness.”

Shami’s daughter Aira had high fever and was having trouble while breathing as well. The situation got worse and she admitted to a city hospital and was moved to the ICU. He learnt about it after the end of the second day’s play and would rush to the hospital after each day to be with his daughter and then came back next day to take field.

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With only a few overs left to mark the end of the day the New Zealand tail enders were looking to push things to the 5th day whereas the Indians were trying their best to finish things off. Shami was steaming in and he found the wicket of Trent Boult to pocket the game for the team. Once he returned to the dressing room after the victory celebrations he was greeted with the pleasant news that his daughter was discharged from hospital and was recovering at home.