Mohammed  Shami: The New Second Seamer For India?

A lot of successful sportsmen in the past have always managed to put nightmares behind their back and focus upon what's next. If you remain stuck in the web of a miserable past, you may fail to come out of that web ever. It won't take too long and you will be finished.

Mohammed Shami was perhaps wary of this fact. No one ever doubted his ability and his skills. The world still remembers his fierce Test debut at his home ground, the Eden Gardens where he completely bamboozled the West Indies batsmen with a vicious display of reverse swing bowling.

For an Indian public, getting a fast, fiery and accurate fast bowler is a blessing as there have not been many. Shami promised to be one of those. His highlight throughout his career has been his seam position which has always been tall and upright. Hence, he has always managed to extract whatever little is there in the pitch for him. If you add that to his pace and the skiddy nature of his bowling to it, he becomes a lethal fast bowler.

He had a wonderful start to his ODI career picking up a lot of wickets in the first few series against Pakistan, West Indies and Australia. He was supposed to be the next big thing in the Indian fast bowling department.

He captured the limelight in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, picking up 17 wickets at an average of 18 in 7 games. It was quite a tournament for him. However, his body was jealous of his success. Ever-increasing body weight and a persistent knee injury did not help his cause.

His family and personal issues came to haunt him at the wrong time. He must have felt that the world was against him. He did not more than a couple of One-Day Internationals for almost two years after that. He tapered off and was inconsistent in the IPL as well.

To come out of such depressing 18 months and give your everything to cricket again is simply magnificent. Amidst a dip in this white-ball form, his Test spot, however, was as secure as anyone's in the team.

In the 2018 overseas Test season, he bowled exceedingly well. He bowled exceptionally without much luck as he passed the outside edge of the batsmen numerous times but failed to find the edge often. He was almost referred to as a "hot and cold bowler". This was so because his performances depended upon his mood. On one hand, he would bowl an erratic and wayward spell but on the other hand, he would run hard and run through the opposition like no one else.

He has tried to change that. He has tried to become a lot more consistent. He has lost almost 20 kilograms of weight in the last couple of years. He's fitter and stronger and injuries are now afraid of him.

He bowled magnificently in the Tests in Australia. He was the second-highest wicket taker with 16 wickets. He just has an amazing ability to make things happen when everything is looking flat.

With India still unsure about its third-seamer for the World Cup, he was given a go in the ODI matches in Australia and New Zealand. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands as good players do.

With 5 wickets in Australia and 9 in New Zealand, he bowled his heart out. After returning from the "Man-of-The-Series" performance against New Zealand, he has continued his good form in the home ODI series against Australia.

Each of his deliveries has rhythm, consistency and confidence written all over it. His return to white-ball set up is exemplary and has almost booked his place in the World Cup squad as India's third seamer.

However, the question is can he be India's front line seamer along with Jasprit Bumrah replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Kumar, who is also plagued by a back-injury has seen a dip in his white-ball performance. In fact, Kumar, on an average picks just about a wicket per match while Shami picks up almost two wickets per match. No doubt, he's the fastest Indian to 50 ODI wickets.

Having said that, Kumar, on his day can be destructive. Moreover, he has an edge over Shami as far as death bowling is concerned. Shami has not quite shown his heroics at the death.

He still has done a lot to impress the cricketing world. He accepts that cricket is the thing that has made him successful and needs to respect it. He accepts that life has been tough with him. He is humble and honest and is ready to move forward.

If he can improve his performance at the death, who knows that he might even start as the second seamer for Indian rather than being just the third seamer.