Batting great Sunil Gavaskar on Sunday said Mohammed Shami often reminds him of legendary West Indian pacer Malcolm Marshall.
Shami finished the year with a very impressive tally of 42 wickets, the best by any bowler in 2019, and Gavaskar did not shy away from praising the 28-year-old. When asked who is his favourite Indian fast bowler, Gavaskar took Shami’s name.
“He reminds me of Malcolm Marshall, who still wakes me up from deep sleep,” Gavaskar said while commentating for Star Sports during the third and final One-day International between India and the West Indies in Cuttack.
Gavaskar also credited India’s World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev for revolutionising Indian fast bowling. Impressed with Shami’s skills, former India captain Gavaskar had earlier compared the fast bowler to a leopard.
“When he is running in, when the spider cam actually takes it, it is such a sight. It is almost like a leopard going for a kill,” Gavaskar said. Skipper Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran struck aggressive half-centuries to power the West Indies to 315/5 in the series-deciding ODI.