“If it was not for Shami’s spells, one felt that the total could be chased” - Sreesanth on the significance of Indian pacer’s 7-fer in WC semis

Former India fast bowler S Sreesanth has opined that New Zealand could have chased down a total of 397 in the first semi-final of the 2023 World Cup had it not been for Mohammed Shami’s seven-wicket haul.

The Men in Blue beat the Kiwis by 70 runs in the knockout clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. Batting first, Team India put up a mammoth 397/4 and then held the Kiwis to 327 to book their place in the final of the tournament.

While the eventual margin of victory was quite a significant one, the hosts were under some pressure when Daryl Mitchell (134) and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (69) were going strong. It was Shami who broke the 181-run third-wicket stand by dismissing Williamson.

In an interaction on Sportskeeda, Sreesanth was all praise for Shami, stating that the semi-final could have gone in a different direction had it not been for his heroics with the ball.

“As a fast bowler, I want to say that it’s not easy when you are a new-ball bowler and you don’t get a chance to bowl with it. You don’t even get that opportunity [Shami missed India’s first four matches] and then when you get the chance, to come up with such miracle-like performances…” Sreesanth commented.

“If it was not for Shami’s spells, one felt that the total could be chased when the partnerships were being formed. It was that kind of a wicket, but Shami picked wickets whenever he came back. It was not one or two wickets, but seven. To pick up a seven-fer in Indian conditions and that too in the semi-finals of the World Cup, it was a performance of the next level,” the 40-year-old added.

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir also shared similar views to Sreesanth and described Shami’s performance as an incredible one.

“He has taken seven wickets in a match where more than 700 runs have been scored. You cannot look beyond that. The kind of performance he came up with was incredible,” Gambhir commented.

Following his stupendous showing in the semi-finals, Shami moved to the top position among leading wicket-takers in the 2023 World Cup. He has 23 wickets from six matches at an average of 9.13.

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“In the final as well, he will go in with the same intent” - Sreesanth on Rohit Sharma’s aggressive batting

While Shami ended New Zealand’s resistance in the 2023 World Cup with a superb spell, Indian captain Rohit Sharma again got the innings off to a blazing start.

Hailing the Indian skipper’s selfless approach, Sreesanth backed him to do the same in the final against Australia as well.

“In the entire World Cup, Rohit has been playing selfless cricket. He is not playing for any individual milestones. The bowlers were trying the short ball ploy against Rohit, but he was smashing fours and sixes at will. It is not easy. I feel, in the final as well, he will go in with the same intent.”

Rohit hammered 47 off only 29 balls against New Zealand in the first semi-final, hitting four fours and as many sixes.