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Star India pacer Mohammed Shami marked his return to ICC tournaments with a brilliant 5/53, helping India bowl out Bangladesh for 228.
‘Sort Of People You Want Around’: Ricky Ponting Lauds Mohammed Shami (Picture credit: AP)
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said that for Mohammed Shami to come back and get a five-wicket haul in the first match of the Champions Trophy is brilliant, adding that the Indian bowler is at his best version at the moment.
Shami marked his return to ICC tournaments with a stunning 5/53, helping India dismiss Bangladesh for 228 on Thursday. He became the fastest Indian and the second-quickest overall to reach 200 ODI wickets during India’s six-wicket win.
Shami’s last appearance in an ICC tournament was in the 2023 ODI World Cup where he finished as the highest wicket-taker despite sustaining an ankle injury during the tournament.
“For him to come back and get five wickets in the first game of the Champions Trophy is fantastic. They are exactly the sort of people you want in your side, the guys who would do anything for you,” Ponting said while speaking on ICC.
“Especially as a captain, you look someone in the eye and ask them to do a job for you, if they are going to do it or they are not and Shami always seems that sort of guy to me that,” Ponting said.
After sustaining the ankle injury, Shami was sidelined from international cricket for over a year because of the injury, which interrupted a brilliant run in international cricket and the comeback began with a return to domestic cricket.
“It hasn’t been easy for him, yes he had a good international career but if you look back, it was a sort of stop-start at the start of his career,” Ponting said.
“He has got better and better year on year and he is probably, the best version of himself right now on the back of a bit of adversity, so they are the sort of people you want around, especially in big tournaments,” Ponting added.
Shami, who has bagged 55 wickets across three ODI World Cups, in 2015, 2019 and 2023, became the eighth Indian to reach 200 wickets in ODIs.
India play Pakistan in their second group-stage game on Sunday, February 23. Notably, Shami didn’t feature in the marquee clash in the 2023 ODI World Cup and his last ODI against Pakistan was a decade back in the 2015 World Cup.
