Gautam Gambhir, former India opener lavished high praise for the 31-year-old pacer Mohammed Shami, calling him the most threatening bowler of the series, being impressed with his wonderful spell.
Indian pacers enjoyed a fine outing on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town. The Proteas were bowled out for 210 as India managed to get a slender lead, with pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Shardul Thakur combining to pick all 10 wickets.
Gautam Gambhir: No One Would Want To Face Mohammed Shami
While Jasprit Bumrah led the attack and emerged as the star of the day, registering a seventh five-wicket-haul in Tests, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami bagged two wickets each, and Shardul Thakur picked up one. However, while it was Jasprit Bumrah who broke the back of the South African attack, one particular spell bowled by Mohammed Shami was what turned the game on its head.
In one over, Mohammed Shami dismissed Temba Bavuma to break a promising partnership and followed it with the wicket of Kyle Verreynne for a duck. Suddenly, from a strong position of 112/3, South Africa slumped to 159 for 6, to eventually bundle out for 13 runs short of India’s first-innings total.
Impressed with Mohammed Shami’s wonderful spell, former India opener Gautam Gambhir lavished high praise for the 31-year-old pacer, calling him the most threatening bowler of the series.
“More than the fear, he was threatening throughout the day, in this innings, and probably throughout the series. The kind of lengths which he bowled, kept testing the batter. Ask any top batsman. No one would want to face him. He bowls so close to the stumps that he is always in or around off-stump. And from there on, he gets the movement and from there on he gets the edges,” Gambhir said on the Byju’s Cricket Live Show on Star Sports.
India was 57 for the loss of two wickets at stumps in the second innings of the ongoing third Test against South Africa at the Newlands in Cape Town. The visitors have taken an overall lead of 70 runs. India lost openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul early but Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara steadied the ship. Earlier, India had taken a 13-run lead after bowling out the hosts for 210.
Gautam Gambhir: Mohammed Shami Is Relentless And Is Threatening
Gautam Gambhir used a couple of wonderful adjectives for Mohammed Shami and hailed him as one of the best Test bowlers presently in the world. While Jasprit Bumrah took the cake, finishing with 5/42 – his seventh five-for in Tests, Mohammed Shami’s figures of 2/39 from 16 overs was equally impressive.
“I think Mohammed Shami or Jasprit Bumrah will keep challenging any batter. More me, Mohammed Shami is relentless and he’s very threatening. He is probably one of the best bowlers going around in red-ball cricket,” Gambhir added.
Keegan Petersen top-scored with a fighting 72 before he was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah just after Tea. Initially, India posted a total of 223 with skipper Virat Kohli top-scoring with a fighting knock of 79. Mohammed Shami has already picked up 13 wickets in the ongoing series averaging a mere 19.46 with a five-wicket haul in the 1st Test. He is India’s leading wicket-taker in the ongoing series and 3rd overall after Kagiso Rabada (18) and Marco Jansen (16).