SA vs IND: Mohammed Shami completes 200 wickets in Tests, joins elite list of Indian pacers

Mohammed Shami reached the landmark of 200 Test wickets when he got Kagiso Rabada out on the third day of the first Test at Centurion. The 31-year old became the fifth Indian pacer to achieve the milestone after the likes of legendary Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, and Javagal Srinath. Of all the Indian bowlers, Shami is eleventh to enter the 200 wickets club in Tests.

Most wickets by Indian pacers in Tests

Among the fast bowlers, the wily right-armer is the third fastest for India to the feat in terms of matched played as he snapped his 200^th wicket in 55^th match of his career with Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath achieving the landmark in 50^th and 54^th Test, respectively. Mohammed Shami, who made his Test debut against West Indies in 2013 at Kolkata, took only 9896 deliveries in reaching the double century mark which are the fewest by any Indian.

Least matches by Indian pacers to reach 200 Test wickets:

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took 10248, the genius Kapil Dev 11066 and Ravindra Jadeja 11989 deliveries to complete 200 scalps. South Africa seems to be Shami’s favourite opponent as he took his third five wicket-haul against them which is his most against any team.

Overall, the pacer has bagged six five-fors in Test cricket. In terms of wickets, sensational Shami has taken 39 scalps against the Proteas, his second most after dismissing England players 42 times in the longest format of the game.

Mohammed Shami has the best strike-rate amongst Indian pacers with 200 wickets

Shami boasts the best strike-rate amongst the five Indian speedsters who have taken minimum of 200 wickets in the Whites. With strike-rate of 49.4 he tops the chart, while Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma on number two and three for having strike-rate of 60.4 and 61.6, respectively.

The champion Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath are placed fourth and fifth with numbers of 63.9 and 64.0. Shami also has the best average of 27.10 in comparison to all the other pace bowlers.

Best strike-rate by Indian fast bowlers in Tests: (min 200 wickets)

Interestingly, the spearhead also took his 100^th Test wicket against the same opposition on the same ground in the year 2018, when he had dismissed Keshav Maharaj. This time it was Kagiso Rabada who became 200^th victim of India’s impressive pacer.

Once getting dropped for not passing the fitness test, Mohammed Shami certainly looked like a man on a mission as the champion fast bowler has now become a bowler for all formats for the Indian team. Approaching 150 wickets in the ODIs, the pacer would like to reach more milestones and continue contributing for the team in the coming years.