Mohammad Shami on Tuesday became the fifth Indian fast bowler to scalp 200 wickets in Test cricket. The right-arm quick reached this feat during the third day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Centurion. He bagged a five-wicket haul, the sixth in his career, helping India bundle out the hosts for 197.
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Shami garnered massive praise for his heroics in Centurion. Former South Africa batsman Daryll Cullinan was so impressed with the pacer’s performance that he compared Shami to the likes of Shaun Pollock and James Anderson.
Speaking with ESPN Cricinfo, Cullinan lauded the experienced pacer for his seam position and control.
“His seam position is perfectly up there. Just watching him bowl today reminded me of the likes of (Shaun) Pollock, (James) Anderson. They don’t seem to waste a ball. If you’re on strike, there’s constantly that subtle variation and good seam positions. It is not as if you anticipate the line and length,” Cullinan told Cricinfo.
“It’s that control which may vary, sort of a foot wide in the crease. It may be a foot fuller or shorter. He finds that in between lengths where you never know whether you should be forward or back. He’s constantly asking you questions. You can see there’s a thought process behind everything that he is doing,” he added.
Shami is now the 11th Indian bowler to pick up 200 or more wickets and only the fifth fast bowler to reach the milestone. He is only behind Kapil Dev (434), Ishant Sharma (311), Zaheer Khan (311), and Javagal Srinath (236), at the moment.
“Indian pace bowling is a formidable one because each and every member has worked hard and achieved it all with their sheer hard work. They have created their own little niche for themselves and yes they are the ones who have put in an immense amount of hard work in the last 6-7 years. They are here on their own,” said Shami at the post-match presentation.
