Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has credited his success to his father and brother. On Tuesday the fast bowler reached the milestone of 200 Test wickets as he picked up a fifer on the third day of the first test against South Africa at Centurion. Shami recalled his earlier days how his father used to take him by cycle to a coaching camp which was 30 kms away from his home.
On the third day of the Centurion Test, as he picked the wicket of Kagiso Rabada, he became the third-fastest pacer to take 200 Test wickets. Shami reached the milestone in 55 matches while Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath took 50 and 54 Tests respectively to reach this figure.
“I’ve said many times in the media that I want to credit my father. I come from a village(Sahaspur, UP’s Amroha) where there are no facilities even today. My father would force me to travel 30km from there, and sometimes accompany me, and that struggle has always stayed with me, and I always credit my father and brother who backed me and helped me play the game in those conditions and that situation. If I’m here today, the credit goes to them,” Shami spoke in a press conference after day-3.
Shami also said that he’s finally getting the result of the hard work he had put in for the last 6-7 years. Notable that Shami has been an integral part of the Indian pace bowling unit who made an impression to one and all in the last 3 years.
“If India’s pace bowling is so strong, it’s come on the backs of our own skills, we’ve all come here having built our strengths. You can say that it’s the result of the hard work we’ve put in over the last 6-7 years,” he said.
“Yes, we’ve had support staff who’ve always been with us, to support our skills, but you can’t name one person. It’s the result of the work we’ve put in over the last 6-7 years, so I give credit to that hard work, and the credit should always go to the person who’s put in that hard work,” he added.
Shami also confirmed that everything is fine with Jasprit Bumrah. Notable that Bumrah left the field after twisting his ankle during the 6th over.
“Everything is fine [with Bumrah]. As you saw, he came back and bowled and took the last wicket too. It’s always painful when you twist your ankle, and you always hope it heals quickly, but he came back and even fielded for one hour, so I think he will be fine, there are no issues,” Shami said.
At the end of the third day’s play, India is right on top as they took a 130-run lead in the first innings though they lost the wicket, Mayank Agarwal, in 2nd innings right before the stumps.