Mohammed Shami started his early training under Badruddin in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad. A few years later he moved to Kolkata and was selected for the U-22 Bengal side.
After going through a tough grind through the ranks, he got his chance to represent Bengal at the Ranji Trophy. After this, Shami proved to be one of the stand-out performers in the domestic circuit.
After making an impressive debut against Pakistan cricket team in 2013, Shami slowly became the regular part of the Indian pace attack in Tests as well as ODIs.
Shami took 9 wickets in his debut Test match in 2013, the most by an Indian pacer on debut.
On 23 January 2019, Shami became the fastest Indian bowler to take 100 ODI wickets. Later that year, on 22 June, he became the second Indian to take a hat-trick in a World Cup match.
Mohammed Shami is yet to receive any awards or accolades.
Read more about Sachin Tendulkar's Autobiography.
At the age of fifteen years, Md. Shami started training under the guidance of Badruddin Siddique in Moradabad. Shami failed to make it to the Uttar Pradesh U-19 team and then moved to Kolkata. In Kolkata, he started playing for the Dalhousie Cricket Club where he was noticed by Debabrata Das, a former Cricket Association of Bengal assistant secretary.
Also see - Bhuvneshwar Kumar Biography
Das sent Shami to Mohun Bagan Club, where Sourav Ganguly once saw him bowling and was impressed by his skills. In 2010, Shami made it to the Bengal team and made his first-class debut against Assam, picking up three wickets.
Shami was signed for the 2014 IPL season by Delhi Daredevils and was retained for the 2015 season as well. In 2018, he was bought again by Delhi Daredevils. The next season, he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab for Rs 4.8 crores and was the highest wicket-taker of the team in 2019.
In 2020 and 2021, Shami again had amazing performances, taking 20 wickets and 19 wickets, respectively. The most recent edition of the IPL featured Shami in a new team, Gujarat Lions. He picked up 20 wickets for the new franchise in 16 IPL matches in 2022.
Shami was selected for India National Cricket Team’s ODI series against Pakistan in 2013 based on an excellent performance in the domestic circuit. In 2014, Shami picked up 11 wickets against New Zealand in a series with an average of 28.72. The same year, he became the second-fastest Indian to take 50 ODI wickets. In the ODI series against England, he took eight wickets and showed great discipline in his bowling. For his performances in 2014, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.
Shami was named for the 2015 ICC World Cup squad in which he took 17 wickets with an average of 17.29. In 2015, he was once against a part of ICC’s World ODI XI. In 2019, Shami became the fastest Indian to reach the 100 wicket milestone in ODI. During the 2019 ICC World Cup, Shami took a hat-trick against Afghanistan and became only the second Indian to do so in a World Cup match.
Mohammed Shami made his ODI debut against Pakistan on 6 January 2013. Although he dismissed only one batter during the match, his economy rate of 2.56 was outstanding. A week later, he was selected in the Indian squad for a series against England.
Again, Shami bowled economical overs but took only a few wickets. Next, he went up against Australia and took an important seven wickets in three matches. Shami’s bowling was tested when he went to South Africa and New Zealand. With his great seam positions, Shami flourished in foreign conditions. He took 3 wickets in all the three matches against the Proteas and 11 wickets in another five matches against the Kiwis.
Due to his brilliant performances, Shami was included in the Indian squad for the 2014 Asia Cup. In his first match of the tournament, he took four wickets against Bangladesh. Shami finished the tournament with 9 wickets in four matches.
In August 2014, Shami played four away ODI matches against England, in which he took a total of eight wickets. The following year, Shami was named in the Indian squad for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. The Indian pacer played seven matches and took 17 wickets in the tournament. Due to a fractured knee injury, Shami was out of the Indian squad for quite some time.
He made his eventual comeback on 2 July 2017 against West Indies. After playing a couple of matches in 2018, Shami’s next big series came against Australia in January 2019. In the three ODIs, Shami picked a total of five wickets and helped India win the series 2-1. Next, he went to New Zealand and took 7 wickets in four ODIs that he played.
In the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, Shami was selected in the Indian squad. In the four matches that he played, Shami took a whopping 14 wickets. Then, he played a couple of ODI series against West Indies, one at home and one in the Caribbean.
Shami picked a total of 9 wickets in six matches against West Indies. In 2020, Shami played his last series against Australia before the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic. He played a couple of matches and took four wickets. His comeback series came in July 2022 against England. Shami played three ODIs in England, and took four wickets.
Shami made his Test debut in 2013 against West Indies cricket team. He took 9 wickets in his debut match, the most by an Indian fast bowler on debut. H was a part of the 2104-15 Border Gavaskar Trophy where he took 15 wickets.
Mohammed Shami made his debut on 6 November 2013, against the West Indies team. In his first Test, he made everyone aware of his immense talent by taking 4 wickets in the first innings and a five-wicket haul in the second one. His brilliant performance led to him getting selected for the away series against South Africa. He played in two Test matches and took a total of 6 wickets.
In the year 2014, he also played a couple of away Test matches against New Zealand. He took a whopping ten wickets in the whole series. Next, he went up against the English team on their home ground. Shami bowled in five innings and claimed five wickets in the whole series. Additionally, Shami scored his first Test half-century against the English team at Trent Bridge.
Due to impressive performances in foreign conditions, Shami was picked in the Indian squad for the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Australia. The Indian seam bowler performed exceptionally, taking a four-wicket and five-wicket haul. In 3 matches, Shami took 15 wickets.
After suffering a knee injury in the early parts of 2015, Shami took a break for a few months to recover. He made his comeback to the Test side more than a year later, in July 2016, against the West Indies. Playing four away Test matches in the Caribbean, Shami plucked eleven wickets.
Next, he played another couple of home series against New Zealand and England, in which he had moderate performances. Shami played against only Sri Lanka in 2017. He took 18 wickets in five matches. The following year, Shami played three important away series. The first one was against South Africa, in which he claimed fifteen wickets in three matches, including one five-wicket haul.
His next series was against England, and Shami took 16 wickets in five matches. He was then part of a historic Test series concerning Australia. Shami took 16 wickets in four matches, including his career-best inning bowling figures of 6 wickets for 56 runs. His scintillating performance in the series made him instrumental in India’s first Test series win against the Aussies in Australia.
In October 2019, Mohammed Shami took a magnificent five wickets for 35 runs in a Test match against South Africa. In 2020, Shami only played three Test matches, all of which were in foreign countries. First, he played a couple against New Zealand, in which he took five wickets.
Next, he was up against Australia. Due to Shami getting a forearm fracture, he was only able to play the first match before bowing out of the remainder of the series. In June 2021, Mohammed Shami was included in the first-ever ICC World Test Championship finals against New Zealand. Shami bowled brilliantly, taking four wickets in the first innings, but he failed to perform in the second one. Then, he went up against England and South Africa.
He took eleven wickets in five innings against England and 14 wickets in three matches against South Africa, including one five-wicket haul. Furthermore, he scored his second Test half-century also in England. Mohammed Shami’s last Test match was against the English team on 1 July 2022, in which he performed poorly, taking only 2 wickets.
Shami made his T20I debut against Pakistan in the opening match of the 2014 World T20 and took his maiden wicket in the form of Umar Akmal. He was later on dropped from the tournament and never really played a lot of T20I matches, having made just seven t20I appearances in his career.
Mohammed Shami made his T20I debut against Pakistan in the opening match of the 2014 World T20 and took his maiden wicket in the form of Umar Akmal. He was later dropped from the team after playing another couple of matches in the tournament.
Shami later played another match against England and took three important wickets. Next, he played a match nearly two years later, against the West Indies. In both the matches, his performance was poor, going for more than ten runs an over and taking only three wickets. Shami played another couple of matches against the Caribbeans in 2017 and 2019. He got his next big opportunity against New Zealand in a three-match T20I series.
Throughout the whole series, Shami picked up only two wickets and had an economy rate of 8.92. In the 2021 T20 Cricket World Cup, Shami was included in the Indian squad. In five T20I matches, he picked up six wickets. His last match was in the 2021 T20 Cricket World Cup itself, against Namibia on 8 November 2021.
Shami’s father, Tousif Ali was a farmer and also a fast bowler in his youth. It was he who took Shami to Badruddin Siddique after recognising Shami’s talents in fast bowling. Mohammed Shami has four siblings and all of them aspired to be a fast bowler in their early days.
