Mohammed Shami announced his retirement from Test cricket on Friday, November 6, having taken 229 wickets in 64 matches for India. Known for his ability to tighten the screws in the second innings, we rank his best second-innings spells.
6. 3-10 vs South Africa, Ranchi - October 2019
South Africa were following on and desperate for a good start to have any chance of making a comeback. But Shami, with the new ball, had different ideas. While spin was expected to dominate the proceedings, it was Shami who made the ball talk.
He made it extremely hard for the visitors to buy a run off his bowling, breaking the back of their batting line-up. He picked up wickets of Zubayr Hamza, Faf du Plessis and Temba Bavuma to leave South Africa reeling at 22-4.
Shami conceded only 10 runs in 10 overs, delivering six maidens as India skittled the opposition for just 133 runs and won by an innings and 202 runs.
5. 5-35 vs South Africa, Vizag - October 2019
In the first Test of the same series in Vizag, Shami put up a second-innings masterclass with a stunning five-wicket haul. On a surface where more than 1200 runs were scored in the first three innings, Shami rocked South Africa with the new and old ball on the final day.
He castled Bavuma first early in the day before sending Du Plessis and Quinton de Kock’s stumps flying, reducing the visitors to 60-5. When the lower-order batters hung around for more than 30 overs, Shami returned with the old ball to dismiss Dane Piedt and Kagiso Rabada to claim a five-wicket haul. Thanks to his spell, India won by 203 runs to take an early lead in the series.
4. 5-47 vs West Indies, Kolkata - November 2013
This was Shami’s debut and he put up an exhibition of reverse swing to leave the West Indies rattled. He was brilliant in the first innings too, picking up four wickets, but his performance in the second demolished the West Indies at Eden Gardens.
The visitors were sitting pretty at 110-2 before Shami trapped Marlon Samuels LBW and also dismissed Denesh Ramdin. A few overs later, the Bengal pacer ran riot with his reverse swing. West Indies collapsed from 152-5 to 168 all out as Shami castled Darren Sammy, Shane Shillingford and Sheldon Cottrell to pick up a five-for on debut.
3. 4-49 vs South Africa, Centurion - January 2018
Even though India lost this Test, Shami’s spell helped them restrict South Africa in the second innings. After gaining a 28-run lead, the hosts were sitting pretty at 144-2 with AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar going strong. This is when Shami came up with a memorable spell.
He dismissed both set batters and then got the better of De Kock too, as South Africa went to 163-5 in the space of six overs. He came back later to remove Kagiso Rabada and finish with 4-49 in 16 overs. India lost the Test by 135 runs, but Shami’s spell was the reason they even stood a chance.
2. 5-28 vs South Africa, Johannesburg - January 2018
It was another second-innings five-for for Shami, this time in a consolation win in Johannesburg. Chasing 241, the hosts were coasting at 124-1, with Elgar and Hashim Amla having completed respective half-centuries. Shami had earlier struck with a short ball that proved to be Aiden Markram’s undoing.
However, once the Elgar-Amla partnership was broken, Shami ran through the lower-middle order in stunning fashion. He castled Vernon Philander and Andile Phehlukwayo, who were no mugs with the bat, before cleaning up the tail to finish with 5-28 as India won by 63 runs.
1. 6-56 vs Australia, Perth - December 2018
Shami had bowled 24 wicketless overs in the first innings and after conceding a 43-run lead, India needed their bowlers to step up. Shami did so in style, using the bounce at the Perth Stadium to his advantage.
He hurried the Aussie batters with pace, dismissing Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, and Travis Head before completing his five-for with Nathan Lyon’s wicket. Shami was unplayable, keeping the opposition batters on their toes with his line and length.
It was arguably the finest spell of Shami's career, with few India quicks having put Australia on the back foot in their own backyard quite like he did. Unfortunately, India lost the Test by 146 runs, failing to chase down 286.
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