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Mohammed Shami (born 9 March 1990) is an Indian international cricketer who represents Bengal in domestic cricket. He is a right-arm fast-medium swing and seam bowler, who bowls consistently around the 140kmph mark, which makes him a deceptively potent fast bowler. He is also known as a "reverse swing specialist". He made his ODI debut against Pakistan in January 2013 where he bowled a record four maiden overs. He picked a five-wicket haul on his Test debut against West Indies in November 2013.
Shami is originally from Sahaspur village near Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. His father Tousif Ali is a farmer who was also a fast bowler in his younger days. Shami has a sister and three brothers, all three of whom wanted to be fast bowlers. In 2005, Tousif recognised Shami's bowling abilities and took him to Badruddin Siddique, a cricket coach in Moradabad which was 22 km from their village.
After Shami missed out on getting picked for the Uttar Pradesh Under-19 team, Badruddin sent him to Kolkata later in 2005. Shami started playing for the Dalhousie Athletic Club. While he was playing for this club, he was noticed by Debabrata Das, a former assistant secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal, who was impressed with Shami's bowling and drafted him into his team, Town Club, with a contract of Rs 75,000. Das took Shami, who had no place to stay in Kolkata, to his own residence. Shami bowled well for Town Club, but could not get selected for the Bengal Under-22 team. Das went to one of the selectors, Samarban Banerjee, and asked him to watch Shami's bowling. Banerjee was impressed with his bowling and selected him for the Bengal Under-22 team.
In order to get selected for the Bengal team, Das sent Shami to Mohun Bagan Club, which is one of the top clubs in Bengal. After joining the club, Shami could bowl to Sourav Ganguly at the Eden Gardens nets. Ganguly saw Shami's bowling skills and asked the selectors to "take special care of him". Soon after, Shami was picked in the Bengal Ranji squad in 2010.
Mohammed Shami did not quite set the domestic stage on fire before making his way into the national side. He had a reasonable maiden domestic season in 2010-11 only to be talked about for his ability to swing the ball at a good pace. Touted as someone who could bowl at a range of 140kmph consistently, Shami came into the spotlight when he picked up 28 wickets for Bengal in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy season. That impressive performance put him in national reckoning as he made his Test debut against West Indies at Kolkata in 2013.
Shami made an impact immediately picking up nine wickets in the match which included a fifer in the second innings. His ability to swing the ball early in the innings and reverse it towards the end impressed one and all as India had found hope in a bowler who was genuinely quick. He had reasonable outings in Tests in South Africa and New Zealand and formed a crucial bowling partnership along with Ishant Sharma. He has been spoken about in high regard by former Pakistan bowling great Wasim Akram who worked with him closely when the speedster was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
Shami made an impact immediately picking up nine wickets in the match which included a fifer in the second innings. His ability to swing the ball early in the innings and reverse it towards the end impressed one and all as India had found hope in a bowler who was genuinely quick. He had reasonable outings in Tests in South Africa and New Zealand and formed a crucial bowling partnership along with Ishant Sharma. He has been spoken about in high regard by former Pakistan bowling great Wasim Akram who worked with him closely when the speedster was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
