What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
BENGALURU: On Monday, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the Asia Cup, which will be played in the T20I format, the exclusion of the seamer Mohammed Shami created a flutter. A host of cricket experts and netizens were left bewildered by the decision of the selectors to ignore Shami. His exclusion also indicates he is unlikely to be picked for the T20I World Cup, which is slated to take place later this year.
“In my team, Shami was literally there. If I was the chairman of the selection committee, I think Shami would have been there and I would probably not have gone with Ravi Bishnoi,” said the former selector, Kris Srikkanth.
However, if one looks at the T20I record of Shami over the years, his exclusion doesn’t seem surprising by any stretch of the imagination. Since making his debut in 2014, the seamer has featured only in 17 T20Is in which he has chalked up 18 scalps. His economy rate in this format is 9.54, which is pretty poor.
The fact that he has played only 17 matches in a span of 8 years clearly shows he has never been an important part of India’s T20I squad. That is because he has the tendency to leak runs profusely in the format without picking up many wickets. He often strays onto the pads of batsmen and is easily swatted away. While he has the ability to jag the new ball around, his death-overs bowling skills leave a lot to be desired. Rarely does one see him bowling at yorkers consistently.
His IPL record is also middling and underlines his gross deficiency in the T20 format. In the IPL 2022, he took 20 wickets in 16 matches, but his economy rate was eight. These are decent numbers, compared to his T20I record, but far from being sparkling.
Three more factors go against him. Firstly, India at present have many medium-pacers who are doing far better than him. Youngsters like Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and even Umran Malik grabbed their opportunities and performed creditably in the recent T20Is which India have played. Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwwar Kumar and Harshal Patel have been bowling with a sharp bite and are an integral part of the T20I team. In such a scenario, there is hardly any place left for Shami.
Secondly, Shami was a part of the Indian team for the last World T20 but failed to come good against strong teams. While he snapped up three wickets in each of the matches against Afghanistan and Scotland, he came a cropper against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Thirdly, Shami is 31 and is already doing exceedingly well in Tests and ODIs. Recently, he became the fastest Indian (80 matches) to rack up 150 ODI wickets, which speaks volumes about his wicket-taking abilities. His performance in the Test matches has been even better. The selectors want to preserve him for these formats rather than squandering his energy in the format (T20I), which isn’t his strong suit.
Since January 1, 2019, Shami has snaffled 74 Test scalps at an average of 23.50. His strike rate during this phase is a spectacular 45.8. In this period, only R Ashwin (100) and Jasprit Bumrah (80) have picked up more wickets than him. But Shami’s strike-rate is better than both of them and once again highlights the fact that he’s a veritable wicket-taker.
Similarly, in the ODIs, Shami has rattled up 58 wickets in just 30 matches since 2019. Only Yuzvendra Chahal has grabbed more wickets (62) than him in this period. His strike rate (26.6), as usual, has been a cut above the rest.
These statistics clearly evince that while Shami has arguably been India’s best pacer in the ODIs and Tests in the last four years, he doesn’t cut the mustard in the T20Is. It is wiser to let him run riot in the formats in which he excels than to waste him in the T20Is. Not playing T20Is will also allow him to focus more on his fitness and extend his international career.
