"Watching him bowl today reminded me of Pollock, Anderson" - Daryll Cullinan pays massive compliment to Shami

Former South African batter Daryll Cullinan has paid a huge compliment to Indian pacer Mohammed Shami. After the latter’s five-fer bundled out the Proteas for 197 on Day 3 of the Centurion Test, Cullinan compared Shami to fast-bowling legends like Shaun Pollock and James Anderson.

Shami claimed 5 for 44 in South Africa’s first innings and also became the fifth Indian pacer to claim 200 Test scalps. Thanks to Shami’s heroics, India regained ascendancy in the Boxing Day Test after crumbling from 272 for 3 to 327.

Hailing Shami, Cullinan praised the experienced pacer for his seam position and control. During a discussion on ESPN Cricinfo, the former South African batter explained:

“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.”

Praising Shami, Cullinan further said that the 31-year-old has a clear thought process when he runs in to bowl. The 54-year-old added:

“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 length 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."

During the interaction, Deep Dasgupta stated that Shami has worked hard on his fitness over the last few years, which has made him a much improved bowler. The former India keeper explained:

“Shami has worked very hard to bowl those long spells. In the last 2-3 years, he has picked up 4-5 five-fers. That also tells you that it wasn’t his potential or his skill set, it was his fitness that was letting him down. Last 3-4 years, he’s been absolutely brilliant and he has got smarter as well. He uses the crease really well and today was a great example of him using the crease.”

Apart from Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur claimed two wickets apiece as India gained a significant first-innings lead of 130.

“This has been happening way too often” - Deep Dasgupta on batting collapse before Shami’s heroics

Although Shami rescued India after the visitors lost 7 for 55 with the bat, Dasgupta conceded that frequent batting collapses are a cause of concern. The former cricketer pointed out:

“This has been happening way too often in the last few years.” He added, “For India, make sure you bat South Africa out of the game. They need to make sure a South African win is not an option post lunch on Day 4.”

India were on 16 for 1 in their second innings at Stumps on Day 3 of the Centurion Test, having extended their lead to 146.