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Mohammed Shami, a pacer of India, recently spoke about the competition for places in the Indian fast bowling department. He said that the relative newcomers are the future of Indian cricket and added that he would not unnecessarily drag his career too long if his body doesn’t allow it.

Mohammed Shami has made his comeback in the IPL after suffering a wrist injury while playing in the first Test against and in Australia last year. In his absence, India tried various fast-bowling options Down Under and in the following home series against England, with almost everyone coming up with good results.

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami (Photo | PTI)

Mohammed Shami Don’t See Emergence Of New Pacers As Competition

However, Mohammed Shami doesn’t see the influx of new fast-bowlers as competition and said that he is happy for Indian cricket.

“I don’t see it as a competition. Newcomers are our bench strength. Whether batting or bowling, newcomers are the future. No one can play all his life. As long as there is skill and my body will accompany, I will play. I can’t keep dragging on my career for the sake of it. ” Shami said in an interaction with ABP Ananda.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T. Natarajan. Picture courtesy: Sunrisers/IPL — Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T. Natarajan.
Picture courtesy: Sunrisers/IPL

Adding to his view, the 30-year-old said: “And a good reserve bench is therefore very important. It’s great that the new boys are playing well. Their confidence will also increase. They will keep getting better with tough experiences. There is no competition. It is excellent news for the Indian team that so many talented boys are coming up.”

Mohammed Shami has been one of India’s most consistent performers over the past few years and is also seen as an all-format player. However, with plenty of options for the Indian team management to choose from, it remains to be seen if he will make it to the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

While the present Indian pace bowling line-up has the likes of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as their combination has sorted up a powerful pace-bowling side. In addition, the newcomers T Natarajan, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj make a pace attack to be respected and envied by other teams.

Mohammed Shami: Virat Kohli Is Aggressive Every Time

Mohammed Shami was also asked about whose wicket he would be happiest to take in the IPL between Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, David Warner, Steve Smith, AB de Villiers, and Kane Williamson. The Punjab Kings (PBKS) bowler praised all the players but said that he doesn’t look at names and always thinks that he is good enough to get anyone out.

“I would be happy to take the wickets of all of them. Why leave when the opportunity arises! I don’t think about the names of the batsmen. Virat is very aggressive on the field.

“Virat is aggressive all the time, like a fast bowler. Everyone whose names are mentioned senior pros. Big players. They have scored a lot of runs for their team. But who I’m bowling to is not a big deal. I always think I’m the best.”

On his comeback to competitive cricket, Mohammed Shami did fairly well, returning with figures of 2-33 against the Rajasthan Royals. Mohammed Shami’s figures are all the more impressive, considering the Royals scored 217 runs. The fast bowler will be keen to come up with another good performance when PBKS takes on Chennai Super Kings today at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

PBKS predicted XI: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Ravi Bishnoi, Moises Henriques, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh