Name: Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami is an Indian international cricketer who serves as a right-arm fast or fast-medium bowler representing India in all formats of the game. He has played for Bengal in domestic cricket. Shami finished as India’s leading wicket-taker in the ICC World Cup 2023, besides being the fastest bowler to take 50 wickets in the 48 years history of the Cricket World Cup. He is a recipient of the 2023 Arjuna Award for Cricket.
He made his debut for Bengal in the Twenty20 match in October 2010. In the same year, he made his first-class cricket debut for Bengal against Assam. In February 2012, his bowling helped East Zone win their first Duleep Trophy title. He was selected to tour the West Indies with the India A side. He was considered to be a ‘surprise package’ of the tour for India A, and impressed the team’s coach Lalchand Rajput with both his bowling and batting.
Since making his international debut in 2013, Shami has played only occasionally for his stateside. He played a limited-overs match in March 2017 after not having played any competitive cricket for four months. In 2018, he played a single first-class match for Bengal with the BCCI requesting that he be limited to bowling no more than 15 overs in each innings in the match to ensure his fitness for an upcoming test series. He has not played a single for Bengal since the 2018-2019 season.
Mohammed Shami, the Indian cricketer, is a right-arm fast bowler known for his pace, accuracy, and skill in moving the ball both old and new. Shami's cricketing journey is a testament to his talent, hard work, and dedication to the sport.
Shami's success in international cricket continued in the 2015 World Cup in Australia, where he was India's leading fast bowler. His performance in the tournament was even more impressive considering he played through a knee injury, which he had sustained during the preceding Test series against the hosts.
In 2018, Shami was part of the Indian team that won the Test series against South Africa, taking 15 wickets in the series. He was also part of the Indian team that won the Test series against Australia, taking 16 wickets in the series.
Shami was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011. Ahead of the 2014 season, he was signed by Delhi Daredevils in the player auction. After being released by Delhi ahead of the 2019 season, Shami was bought by Kings XI Punjab in the 2019 auction. In the 2021 season, Shami took 19 wickets in 14 matches and finished as Punjab’s leading wicket-taker in that season.
Ahead of the 2022 IPL auction he was released by Punjab and was purchased by Gujarat Titans. He took 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8.00 runs per over during the season as Gujarat won the league title in their first IPL season. The same season, he won the Purple Cap for the first time.
