How Mohammed Shami outwitted Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma with skill and deception. cricket news
Sunrisers Hyderabad traded Mohammed Shami To Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 10 crore before this season. On Sunday he returned them with interest travis head And Abhishek Sharma in the powerplay with a masterclass in skill and deception.Shami started with the wicket over the head, a line that suggested predictability. The Australian expected the shape of the ball to change and prepared accordingly. Instead, the first three balls were a bit of a toss-up: tight and aggressive, forcing them to take up space. Until the fourth, when Shami finally sent one on the right length, Head induced him to remove it from strike. A bluff was called against Sharma. Shami shifts the ball to deep third man at deep point, pointing it wide outside the off stump. However, Shami bowled a sharp yorker which hit Sharma’s leg stump. Then came Utkarsh. On the last ball of the opening over, another fielder was pushed to the off side, reinforcing the idea of width. Shami bowled wide, but it was a cutter. Sharma, early in the innings, was caught at short third on duck. The hook was baited.
The fast bowler was not finished. He returned the next over with another vicious cutter. The head, still recalibrating, pressed awkwardly forward. His bottom hand slipped and the ball went towards mid-off. Aiden Markram dives forward to take a sharp catch.Two wickets. Eighteen dot balls. Figures of 2/9 and player-of-the-match award.“If he keeps bowling like this, it will be difficult for the selectors to ignore him,” former Delhi fast bowler Sanjeev Sharma told TOI. “Play him in the Afghanistan series. But like a dent in a car, you have to handle it carefully. Similarly, their bodies need careful management.”At 35, Shami knows this better than anyone. After a tough IPL 2025 season for SRH, where he took six wickets in nine matches, Shami has found the tough path again.“I am not a machine. If you are fit then only you can work on your skills. That’s why I stayed in touch with the game and played all the domestic matches,” he told reporters.Shami had performed brilliantly for Bengal in the last Ranji season by taking 67 wickets.Since his last appearance for India in the ICC Champions Trophy last year, he has been out of action due to injuries to some extent.This is the Shami paradox. A delicate structure and an unbreakable craft. But on such days, he bends the ball and the game as per his wish.