Indian pacer Mohammed Shami says his love for cricket helped him battle the off-field problems that pegged him back a few months ago as he made an impressive comeback in the ongoing first Test against England at Edgbaston.
On the opening day of the first Test, Shami took 2/64 while Ravichandran Ashwin returned with figures of 4/60 to help India restrict England to 285/9 at stumps. It was a fine return for the 28-year-old Shami, whose reputation took a beating after being accused of domestic violence and having extra-marital affairs by his wife a few months back. He also sustained injuries after being involved in an accident, and later, missed the one-off Afghanistan Test for failing the yo-yo fitness test.
“(The tour of) South Africa was a long time ago and there have been some off-field issues after that. I had to fight a lot in between but my effort was that I have to keep doing what I love most, and what is most important to me (cricket),” Shami said.
“I wanted to just keep doing my job and then see what happens to the rest of the stuff in my life. Whatever difficulties I face, first I wanted to play cricket and keep doing it. The result is in front of us.”
Shami, who was India’s highest wicket-taker with 15 scalps in the South Africa series, said he was satisfied with team’s efforts on the field. “As a bowling unit and as an individual, I am very happy today. This is the thing I have worked hard for and we have been able to bring it forward successfully,” he said.
“There are ups and downs in life and in your family. But when playing for your country there is a responsibility and when you do that job properly, I think that’s the best thing. So I am very happy.”
Wicket was tough to bowl on initially
England captain Joe Root struck his 41st half-century and put on 105 runs with Jonny Bairstow. Things were going well for the hosts until the third session, when England collapsed from 216/3 to 285/9, losing six wickets for 69 runs.
“In the morning the wicket was a little slower and there was hard work for sure. On such wickets we have to maintain good line and length all day. It was a little tough initially because it was slow and a little damp. We didn’t do anything extra during those overs,” Shami said.
“Initially when you bowl on such wickets here you get an idea how it will behave and what you need to keep doing. So there weren’t many changes in our approach during the day but we tried to control line and length through the day, and tried not to give any width,” he added.
Shami said playing together in the last few oversees tours has helped the team to produce a quality bowling unit. The Bengal pacer also heaped praise on Ravichandran Ashwin (4/60) for being India’s wrecker-in-chief.
“Even when you are not able to take wickets, you dry up the runs. Ashwin bowled well from one end while the runs stopped from the other end to create pressure and the wickets came in the end,” he said. “This is the quality of our bowling unit which we have gained after playing two or three successive tours together. We are very happy as a bowling unit.
