Staying away from cricket is more painful than an injury, says Mohammed Shami

It wouldn't be wrong to say that England's dismal tour of India ended in a complete failure. The Brits who have a good past record in the subcontinent lost the recent five-Test series 4-0.

However, it was sad news for the Indian squad as India’s pace spearhead, Mohammed Shami was declared unfit for the One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 (T20) series against England scheduled early next year owing to his right knee injury. The 26-year-old pacer feels that bearing the pain is easy but the pain of staying away from the game hurts more.

In an interview with Crickbuzz, Shami said, “I've reached a stage when even if there's the slightest of discomfort, it's easy to identify it. After the Rajkot match, I could see a bit of swelling in the knee and I immediately brought it to the coach's notice and spoke to the captain.”

“I've realised during these recurring injuries. Bearing pain is the easier part. What I can't bear easily is the whole idea of having to stay away from action, away from my family, away from my teammates, staying alone in hotels, recovering from an injury and waiting to get back.”

Shami had been quite brilliant versus England picking up 10 wickets in the three tests that he played. He created havoc on the second day of the 2nd test when he destroyed Alastair Cook's off stump by bowling a perfect inswinging delivery.

The off-stump broke in two. While one-half of it went cartwheeling in the air, the other half, the chipped broken bit stayed in its place, exposed to the world, a reminder of Shami’s incredible achievement.

When asked about the dismissal of Cook in Vizag, he said,”Cook doesn't like to play away from the body. He likes to go for his shots. In Vizag, that was at the top of my mind. He expected that ball to move away and it came in a little sharply - the ball that broke the stump.”

Speaking about how he adjusts to match conditions, Shami said,”As the match progresses, you move on. The ball gets older and your mindset undergoes an instant change. Numbers are for statisticians.

Shami also recollected the first time he walked into the team. It’s a ritual for every new player who makes to the Indian team to give a speech. Shami was however initially a little nervous as everyone around him were established names in the field. Shami said to Cricbuzz,” I can't speak English, so it'll have to be in Hindi. And the guys were like "toh isme kya baat hai"(That’s not a big deal). That whole feeling of being accepted so immediately was amazing. As far as MS is concerned, it's like a father-son relationship.”

Shami accepted that he has been really comfortable playing under MS Dhoni earlier, and now under Virat Kohli. The Bengal bowler is also immensely thankful to Kohli for suggesting him to play county cricket.