India pacer Mohammed Shami told his Bengal teammate Manoj Tiwary in a video chat that former captain MS Dhoni had given a tongue-lashing after bowling a poor delivery and trying to cover up for it.
Shami was talking about India’s Test against New Zealand in Wellington in 2014. India were in a good position in the contest but Brendon McCullum scored a career-best 302 put the game beyond the visitors’ reach. The former New Zealand captain, though, was dropped on 14 by Virat Kohli before scoring a memorable triple-ton.
“After McCullum was dropped on 14, on that day we thought: ‘it’s alright, we will send him back soon.’ Then he batted till lunch the next day. He continued till Tea and the day was about to end so I asked Virat why he’d dropped him,” Shami told Tiwary in an Instagram Live chat.
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But Shami’s anger boiled over when McCullum was dropped for the second time. To vent his anger, he bowled a short ball.
Shami said: “McCullum then went on to score 300. On that day before lunch, another batsman edged one and he was dropped again. I ran in and bowled a bouncer in the second last ball before Lunch. The ball went over Mahi bhai’s head.”
“As we were heading towards the dressing room, he [Dhoni] came to me and said: ‘I know the catch was dropped but you should have bowled the last ball properly’. I told him that the ball had slipped out of my hands.”
“Mahi bhai told me: ‘Dekh beta, bohot log aaye mere saamne. Bohot log khel ke chale gaye, jhoot mat bol’ [Look son, I have seen a lot of players come and go. Don’t lie to me]. He said that with a bit of aggression in his tone.”
The 29-year-old pacer added: ‘Bete tumhare senior hain, tumhare captain hain hum. Ye bewakoof kisi aur ko banana’ [Son, I am your senior as well as the captain. Don’t try to fool me]”
Shami, however, heaped praise on the World Cup-winning captain, who has not played a competitive game since India’s semi-final ouster in the 2019 edition.
“I have made my debut in all three formats under Mahi bhai. You can only keep on learning from him, he’s such a brilliant individual.”
