South Africa vs India 2013: 1st Test, Day 2 - Heroes of the day

4. Mohammed Shami

He was selected for the tour following his good run of form in the series against West Indies. Playing in his first overseas Test ever, he bowled in the right areas and got the ball to beat the batsmen on a number of occasions. He opened the bowling along with veteran Zaheer Khan, and did not give away loose deliveries at all. He turned out to be India’s most economical bowler today (2.66).

He did not get any wickets in the 1^st or the 2^nd session of play, but in the last session of play, he managed to get a couple. He took a cue from Ishant and Zaheer, who struck right after tea to dismiss Amla, Kallis and Smith.

He got the important breakthroughs of de Villiers (lbw) and Duminy (caught out) in the same over (45^th of the innings), to reduce SA to 6 wickets down, at the score of 146. They were cruising at 130/1 at one stage, and this onslaught by the bowlers really helped India get back in the game.

Shami is most likely to open the bowling with either Zaheer or Ishant today as well, to try and bowl out South Africa as soon as possible.