"Virat may have done it" - Mohammad Shami opens up on his nickname in the Indian team

Pacer Mohammad Shami reflected on his nickname in the Indian team and who would have coined it. He believed that it could have been Virat Kohli, as only he could do such things.

In an interview with News 24, Shami stated that he had no idea where the name came from. He opened up about having thought as to what it meant. His nickname in the Indian team is 'Lala'.

"I also do not know when it became permanent. Virat may have done it. He only does such things. I was just thinking, once, what kind of a name is Lala, even Shahid Afridi had that name. But I did not understand why I had this name. I am not fat. There are people (lala) who do jewelry work, but I don't do that as well. But when you come to the team, you get some names. If you try to argue about it, they irritate you more in the team. So I let it be," he said. (56:36)

Mohammad Shami was also asked about who he felt were the best batters. The pacer jokingly answered that he would have picked himself if given the choice. However, he chose the likes of Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Sachin Tendulkar among established players. He also named Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal among the upcoming players.

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Mohammad Shami names one batter who would have troubled him

In the same interview, Mohammad Shami was asked about any batter against whom he feared bowling. He stated that there was no such batter who gave him that kind of pressure. The pacer was also asked who between Kohli and Rohit was tougher to bowl at in the IPL.

"There has been no batter till now in front of me who would come in my dreams, or I have to think a lot about or take pressure before the match. It depends on who is set. Both (Kohli and Rohit) are great players, and both are big individuals in Indian history. They have made a name for themselves," he said. (48:44)

However, Mohammad Shami named former India international Cheteshwar Pujara as one batter he felt could have troubled him. He expressed that he was lucky to have Pujara playing on his team.

Pujara recently announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket. The veteran batter scored 7195 runs from 103 Tests at an average of 43.60 with 19 hundreds and 35 fifties.