NEW DELHI: India began their Champions Trophy campaign on a high with a six-wicket victory over Bangladesh, and vice-captain Shubman Gill heaped praise on Mohammed Shami for his impressive 5/53 spell. Gill hailed the veteran pacer as a “legend,” emphasising the difficulty of making a strong comeback after an injury.
Returning after a 14-month layoff following Achilles tendon surgery, Shami delivered a stellar performance, becoming the fastest Indian bowler to reach 200 ODI wickets. He also surpassed all others to become India’s leading wicket-taker in ICC 50-over tournaments.
“Whenever he comes to bowl in an ICC tournament, he doesn’t take less than five wickets. It’s always 4, 5, 4 and 5. Sometimes it happens that you don’t know when he’s taken five wickets.”
“Mehidy performs well against us. When we were playing in the Bangladesh series, he performed well against us. But the way Shami Bhai bowled those lines and lengths, he didn’t let the pressure go off the new batter.”
“It meant that he had to make runs and Shami bhai kept putting balls on that line and swung from there. The catch was good, as it came to me fast. The way he has come back, I think after the injury it is not easy to make a comeback, and he is a legend,” said Gill in a video posted on bcci.tv.
Talking about his spell, Shami said, “The only difference is that I have come back from the injury. I can’t see anything else. The rhythm at that time was good. I am still doing very well. I have come here after 14 months of practice, and I have got the result. I am very happy, and I am enjoying the process.”
In the chase of 229, Gill hit an unbeaten 101 off 129 balls, laced with nine fours and two sixes, as India reached home with 21 balls to spare. “It’s my first century in ICC tournaments. In the World Cup, I missed out two-three times. Once I was batting well and got out on 90. So this is very satisfying for me, especially coming in a chase. I was backing myself to finish the game for the team, and that’s what I tried to do,” he said.
Shami was also in praise of Gill. “The way he has handled the innings from the start to the end on the crease, it is very important to hold on to one end and make runs there as well and to make a 100 on a wicket like that is not an easy feat.”
With India set to take on Pakistan in Sunday’s clash at Dubai, Shami signed off by saying, “I just want to say one thing – the form in this ICC tournament, and of most of the players, may it continue in the same way, and all of us keep performing for our team.”
