Mohammed Shami came back fit and never broke down since, says Ravi Shastri
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Ravi Shastri was all praise for Mohammad Shami following his player-of-the-series performance against New Zealand and hailed him for making a strong comeback after failing the yo-yo test last year. He has also lauded Hardik Pandya and Ambati Rayudu’s efforts for their contributions in New Zealand.
India has been a class apart in the recently-concluded ODI series against New Zealand and a major reason for the same was that the Indian pacers were astonishing throughout the series. With Jasprit Bumrah being rested, it was a huge chance for the Bengal pacer to step up and contribute in the limited-overs series, where he has been in and out ever since the last World Cup in 2015. Striking in every match, Shami had been relentless and took 9 wickets from four games. And Ravi Shastri was mighty impressed with the pacer’s efforts.
“If there is one man, I have to single out over the last five months or so, it’s Mohammad Shami,” Shastri told Star Sports after the final ODI in Wellington.
Shami had failed the yo-yo test last year and was dropped from the side for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. He later cleared that later and featured in the England series, and has been superb in his approach.
“He got a kick up the backside after failing the yo-yo test. He went back, did the hard yards, came back fit and has not broken down since. He has been outstanding, that too across all formats,” the Indian coach said.
Hardik Pandya’s return to the scheme of things was a big boost to the Indian team and it helped them play the duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav together without worrying about an extra batsman. With the World Cup being three months away, Pandya has proved his ability and value in the team during the last three ODIs against New Zealand.
“Hardik is a natural talent and a match-winner. Those 20-30 runs with the bat made the difference,” Shastri said.
Rayudu might have just solved Team India’s questions for the No.4 position with a finely-crafted 90 runs after the team was reduced to 18/4. He, along with Vijay Shankar, revived the innings and despite scoring only five runs off 33 balls, he opened his arms later to take India to a comfortable position. Shastri termed his knock as the toughest of the five games in the series.
“Rayudu played really well today. This was the toughest of all the five matches. He batted like a millionaire in the last game. The way he came out today was commendable. There would still be one or two places we would be looking at. In general, the team picks itself,” Shastri concluded.
