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Mohammed Shami said that he was he still has that passion and hunger to fight for the Indian jersey and that is what drove him during his comeback.
Mohammed Shami on stage with Sourav Ganguly, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Snehasish Ganguly along with Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj (PTI/Swapan Mahapatra)
Mohammed Shami will be making his comeback to the Indian national men’s cricket team after a 14-month injury lay-off in the first of the five-match T20I series against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Shami, who missed the T20 World Cup as well as the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, has been steadily rebuilding his form through domestic cricket. Making his Ranji Trophy return last November, he guided Bengal to a season-opening victory with a match haul of seven wickets.
He then featured in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20s, claiming 11 wickets in nine games at an average of 25.36, followed by the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-dayers, where he took five wickets in three matches at 25.80.
On Monday, Shami opened up on his ‘hunger’ to make it back to the national set-up.
“I feel the hunger to play for the country should never end. If you love your country you will always fight for a comeback. Even if you are injured 10 times. Those who play for the country, or the state, the thought doesn’t even come that I’ll leave cricket or just walk away,” Shami said during the felicitation ceremony of Bengal U-15 women players organised by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
“In cricket, when you get injured the first thought that comes to mind is when can I get back? That is important. If you are a hard-working person, then you can come back every time, irrespective of the nature of the injury. However many matches I play, I feel it is not enough. If I leave cricket altogether, I feel maybe I can never be able to come back and play,” he added.
Shami said that he was he still has that passion and hunger to fight for the Indian jersey and that is what drove him during his comeback.
“When I was injured even I was watching the T20 World Cup on TV. When there’s a mistake, sitting outside you feel that should have happened. That we can’t feel on the ground. You need to have that hunger in you. It is about that blue Indian jersey, that hunger should be in every player that you can get that one chance to play for your country,” Shami said.
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On being asked about making his return to his old stomping ground, Shami said: “Kolkata has been my home. I was born in UP but my life has been here. The fact that I am standing on this stage with Dadi (Sourav Ganguly) is because of Bengal and the ground. I have just been loyal and that one should get a chance to play for India and that is the greatest feeling.”
