On his return from a long injury lay-off, Mohammed Shami has executed plans, induced edges and taken wickets. Ishant Sharma, meanwhile, still grapples with familiar concerns
Karthik Krishnaswamy08-Aug-2016Of the five bowlers India have used in the first two Tests of their West Indies tour, Mohammed Shami is the least experienced. He has also returned only recently from a long lay-off forced by a serious knee injury. But over the course of the series, he has become Virat Kohli’s go-to quick bowler in every situation, be it to execute a specific plan to a specific batsman, such as his accurate and hostile use of the bouncer against Darren Bravo, or to come on and bowl with the new ball or a reverse-swinging old ball, or, simply, as the likeliest man to break a partnership.He has become the leader of India’s pace attack, taking over that mantle from Ishant Sharma, a man who has played 56 Tests more than him.Shami on his comeback
Coming back after a long injury layoff: After the operation happened, there was definitely some doubt, but I spent 7-8 months at the National Cricket Academy, and after that all the doubt was gone, because I had worked so hard, put so much load on myself, that there was no tension over the load [workload] to come. It was just a matter of confidence. By the grace of Allah, I have started just the way I had left off, and I hope that this [bowling form] will continue for a long time.
The difficult road back to full fitness: My focus was just that I keep my weight down as much as possible. I was unfit for so long, so I my thinking was, the more I control my diet and my weight, the easier it will be for me going forward. I was in bed for two months, and I had put on 14-15 kilos, so I had to work really hard to lose that weight, and the result is in front of you.
Being part of a five-man bowling attack: As a fast bowler, you get a little more time [between spells], because it’s important to get time to rest after bowling your spell of four or five overs. If you have five bowlers, you get 10-15 overs more to regain your breath, and you come back with better rhythm, and put in more effort. It’s a big plus point for us to have two good spinners and three fast bowlers, and we have a good combination going.
Getting back into rhythm: There’s no secret. As you know, I was working very hard at the NCA. After putting a lot of [work]load, I told the doctors, the trainers, everyone, to put as much [work]load on me as possible, and try whatever they wanted to, because I didn’t want to have any doubt [about my fitness] going forward. After that, the team was also there, and I joined them. Whatever nets I could do, I did.
His use of the short ball: I’ve just tried to read the wicket as quickly as possible, which length is the ball flying from, which length should I bowl on, and which length is making the batsman uncomfortable. That has been the main thing, to keep bowling where the batsman is uncomfortable, and we have used the short ball in that manner.
Shami did not take the new ball in West Indies’ first innings in Antigua. That was understandable. He had not played Test cricket for over a year-and-a-half, and Ishant and Umesh Yadav were the incumbent quicks in the team.But Shami’s status in the attack changed almost as soon as he began his first spell of the series, in which he dismissed Rajendra Chandrika with an awkwardly rising away-seamer in the corridor. From that spell on, he has looked the most dangerous of India’s three seamers every time India have bowled.Of all of India’s bowlers in the series, fast and slow, West Indies’ batsmen have achieved their smallest control percentage – 77.05 – against Shami. While the number doesn’t paint anything like the full picture of a bowler’s effectiveness – West Indies have achieved a better control percentage against R Ashwin (81.25) than against Amit Mishra (79.47), for instance – it does suggest that Shami has kept asking them difficult questions.One interesting number is West Indies’ run rate against Shami when they have been in control. Against him, they have scored at 3.33 runs per over off the balls that have had them in trouble. Against Ishant Sharma, their not-in-control run rate is 2.66, and against Umesh, it is 1.96.This suggests that Shami has tended to find the edge where Ishant and Umesh have beaten it. In West Indies’ second innings at Sabina Park, Shami conceded 11 fours, of which five came off genuine edges and two others off near-edges, from Jermaine Blackwood playing away from his body and slicing the ball wide of gully.On that frustrating fifth day for India’s bowlers, Shami was probably unlucky not to have taken a wicket or two.Unless it’s his injury record that’s being talked about, Shami isn’t generally spoken of as an unlucky bowler. Ishant, on the other hand, has been called that right through his 70-Test career. His unlucky spells, however, are usually characterised by batsmen playing and missing rather than edging and getting away with it.Length has often been spoken of as Ishant’s major issue, and it has been said that he would become a far more threatening bowler if he pitched the ball half a foot fuller. But in many of his spells, his line has also been half a foot too wide of off stump, allowing batsmen easy leaves outside off stump.In this series, Ishant has seemed to bowl wider than ever. He probably isn’t, but it has looked that way because he has often had Shami bowling at the other end and forcing batsmen to play. They have each sent down exactly the same number of overs in the series – 59 – but where batsmen have left 131 balls from Ishant, they have only managed to leave 87 from Shami.Perhaps that is why Shami has eight wickets in the series, at an average of 24.62, and why Ishant only has four, at 45.00. Perhaps that is why Ishant, after 70 Tests, still averages 37.05.
