Mohammed Shami fields during the World Test Championship final - he has not recovered from an ankle injury and will not play against Bangladesh

For years, Mohammed Shami, 34, has been India’s spearhead, bending his back on unresponsive pitches and making the ball dance with unrelenting precision. But with time seemingly catching up and  his body taking longer to heal after injuries, Sarah Waris wonders whether this is the beginning of the end for one of India’s greats.

For all their brilliance, age has an undeniable effect on fast bowlers. The body slows down. The niggles linger. When they would rather be breaking down stumps and making life miserable for the opposition batters, they start spending hours recuperating instead. When they desire bowling the tough spells more than ever, they are forced to watch the action from afar, hoping to produce the same magic as they could upon return.

Mohammed Shami has become the latest quick to be surrounded by these existential thoughts with an injury continuing to delay his comeback. After a memorable few weeks in the ODI World Cup – the sense of anticipation as he took his mark, the brilliant set-ups, the cartwheel of the timber, the joyous shrieks, arms up in the air, well, let’s not go there – Shami is yet to take the field again. An ankle injury, for which he also needed surgery, has ruled him out of any action; as the timeline for his return keeps getting pushed further, so do the concerns over his future.

 

The fear is not unwarranted. The country that has rarely celebrated its quicks suddenly has one of the best fast bowling attacks in the world, of which Shami is an integral weapon. First, with Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma, Shami formed a formidable troika that sowed the seeds of a revolution. After Ishant fizzled away, Shami found himself as the veteran of the attack, taking forward what he and his team envisioned. Along with Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, he has overseen many a battle together, sending down some beautifully crafted deliveries that have left their imprint in Indian cricket’s history.

Since the start of 2021, the Indian fast bowlers have taken 290 wickets in 35 matches at an average of 27.94. It is slightly below Australia (26.13) and England (27.09) and better than New Zealand, teams with traditionally better fast bowling attacks. India’s quicks have also picked up a wicket every 51.9 deliveries, which is the third-best strike rate in the world.

Shami has played a pivotal part in the success, picking up 49 wickets in 14 games in this period, averaging 28.16 at a strike rate of 51.3. Considering that he has played five of these games on largely slow wickets with minimal assistance at home, these are fantastic numbers.

A look at his overall numbers in India will highlight Shami’s repertoire. He has 76 wickets in 21 Tests in India, averaging 22.10 with two five-fors. Only six Indian fast bowlers have taken more Test wickets than him at home, but none average below 25. Shami also has taken a wicket every 42.6 balls in India, the best among all quicks with at least 50 wickets in the country.

His ODI performances have been staggering as well. Shami has the best average among all bowlers in the format with at least 150 wickets (25.5) and has the seventh-best average among the quicks. His performances have extended to the ODI World Cup, where he averages 13.52 for his 55 wickets, making him the only bowler to take at least 50 scalps before playing 20 games in the event. He is also the only Indian bowler to pick up at least 150 wickets in both Test and ODI cricket whilst averaging below 30, making him truly special. 

What has been his hallmark is his rhythm, his wrist position, and his ability to extract reverse swing even when the ball refused to give him much. He bowls long spells under the sun, relentless in his pursuit, unwavering in his discipline. There is always something poetic about his bowling, a quiet intensity that often goes unnoticed amidst the loud performances of others.

But the hours of toil have taken its toll and Shami’s extended layoff has sparked debates on how long he can continue to shoulder the burden. At his age, with the demands of modern cricket pushing players harder than ever, it’s a fair argument. The body, no matter how well-conditioned, can only endure so much and Shami’s is now asking questions he may not have answers to.

Shami is also reaching the age where the quicks start slowing down. From India, only three seamers have played more than 10 Tests after turning 34 – Lala and Mohinder Amarnath, and Kapil Dev. In all Test cricket, only 14 have taken 50 or more wickets after turning 34, with only seven continuing to play in the 21st century. Of them, just three made their debuts after 2000. With the wickets becoming flatter and the seamers being tested by the three formats, they need to exert themselves more; the weight of time has borne them down, leading to shorter career spans.

It looks grim for Shami. As several young, hungry fast bowlers begin to make their mark, the pressure on him will only increase. With India touring Australia, England and South Africa in the next one and a half years, India will ready for themselves a pool of quicks they can turn to at any given moment. Shami’s long absence will start hurting lesser as they rise and develop.

Yet, something about Shami suggests he may have more to offer. His career has been a series of comebacks, whether it was returning from injuries, dealing with personal setbacks or navigating through mental health issues that forced him to contemplate retirement and even take his own life, and he always found a way to rise again. There’s an aura of unfinished business about him, a feeling that he may have one more chapter left to write.

Whether this is his final act or merely the beginning of a slow fade, only time will tell. But for now, Shami stands on the brink, knowing that every ball from here on will be part of a bigger narrative. Is it the beginning of the end? Maybe. But knowing Shami, he won’t go quietly. Not yet.

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