Rohit Sharma opens up on giving just one over to Shami

The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up fixture between the reigning champions Australia and India saw many noteworthy performances. While Suryakumar Yadav entertained with his batting pyrotechnics, Virat Kohli left everyone stunned with his acrobatic fielding efforts. However, senior pacer Mohammed Shami was arguably the showstopper for a special reason.

Shami who has been named pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement might have only bowled a single over which not only turned out to be impactful but also a match-winning one. After the game, skipper Rohit Sharma explained why exactly he made Shami bowl just one over and that too the final one.

Shami is coming back after a long time: Rohit Sharma

“He (Shami) is coming back after a long time, so we wanted to give him an over. Wanted to give him a challenge and let him bowl the final over, and you saw what he did,” said Rohit Sharma after the match.

It was indeed a really smart move from Rohit to introduce Shami into the attack in the final over which paid instant dividends as he conceded just four runs off the first two deliveries before a dangerous looking Pat Cummins was sent off courtesy of a one-handed stunner from Virat Kohli and Ashton Agar getting run out on next delivery.

Mohammed Shami then bamboozled Josh Inglis and Kane Richardson as Australia were all out for 180 and India won the contest by six runs. The senior pacer completely changed the complexion of the match with that one over where Australians were cruising towards an easy win and the bowler had a tedious task of defending 11 runs. At the same time, it also needs to be noted that the 32-year-old had not bowled a single ball during the two practice matches against Western Australia.

While Shami has to shoulder the responsibility of Bumrah’s absence in this competition and spearhead the Indian pace attack, he would be hoping to prove a point or two during India’s next warm-up match against New Zealand in a couple of days’ time.