"Making his intentions clear for Pakistan" - Fans hail Mohammed Shami for brilliant five-wicket haul in IND vs BAN Champions Trophy 2025 clash

Team India pacer Mohammed Shami was back to his best with a five-wicket haul in the side's 2025 Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday, February 20. The 34-year-old also became the second fastest overall and the fastest Indian to 200 ODI wickets.

The records continued tumbling for Shami as he overtook Zaheer Khan for most wickets by an Indian bowler in ICC tournaments. Having missed over a year with an ankle injury and a subsequent knee injury, Shami returned to the Indian side in the white-ball games against England before the Champions Trophy.

However, he produced his best spell since the comeback in the ongoing contest against Bangladesh. The champion pacer dismissed Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar for a duck in the first over of the match.

Shami capped off a terrific opening spell by removing Mehidy Hasan Miraz in his fourth over. The veteran pacer then picked up his third wicket by breaking a 154-run sixth-wicket partnership and dismissing a well-set Jaker Ali for 68. Finally, he completed his five-wicket haul by cleaning up the Bangladesh tail as India restricted their opponent to 228 in 49.4 overs.

Fans on Twitter were overjoyed with Mohammed Shami's return to form and reacted as follows:

Fans continued to hail Shami for his brilliant spell, saying:

"King of big stages! Mohammad Shami delivers yet again! fastest Indian to 200 ODI wickets. What a legend!"

"Another 5-fer for mohammad shami. what a player. absolute legend. a player for the tournaments. was not in great touch in the recent series against england," tweeted a fan.

"SHAMI is the STARC of India in ICC ODI tournaments," a fan said.

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"I often doubted whether I would be able to play again" - Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami acknowledged fearing about his chances of ever playing competitive cricket again during his extended recovery from the ankle injury. The pacer did not play for India since the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia until the recent England series.

Speaking to the ICC before the start of India's Champions Trophy campaign, Shami said [quoted by ESPN Cricinfo]:

"I always wondered when I would be able to put my feet on the ground again, as someone who is used to running on the field constantly was now in crutches. A lot of thoughts used to run through my mind. Will I be able to do it again? Will I be able to walk without a limp? For the first two months, I often doubted whether I would be able to play again as an injury like this followed by a 14-month break can pull you down."

Shami's figures of 5/53 in 10 overs in the ongoing contest was his sixth five-wicket haul in ODIs and a fifth in ICC events.