On Tuesday (21st November), Indian cricketer Mohammed Shami gave a befitting reply to the controversies started by Pakistani cricketers to question the impeccable performance of the Indian cricket team in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Mohammed Shami ridiculed Pakistani cricketers speculating about Indian bowlers getting a special kind of ball to get more wickets. He asked them to ‘Get well soon’. The pace bowler made these remarks in an interview in the Puma Podcasts.
While the Indian cricket team had a dream run at the recently concluded World Cup, they lost to Australia in the finals last Sunday. Indian pacers had shown spectacular performance in the earlier matches, prompting some Pakistanis to make the bizarre claim that they were being given special balls.
It’s all about hard work
Mohammed Shami told in detail how he went on to become the leading wicket-taker of the recent edition of the World Cup despite not playing in the initial few matches. He said, “I always try to execute my skills and abilities. You call it an output of patience, hard work, luck, or anything else. But, to be in a frame, to focus, to do hard work, and then to execute is very simple to talk about. When a person goes to that, he gets to know what it is. So many players are playing in the World Cup. Everyone is trying to do that.”
Mohammed Shami added, “The other day, I saw reels in which even some cricketers are wondering how the ball disappears suddenly, and how it swings out of nowhere. I would say it is because of the hard work, patience, passion. It is because we are going and doing hard work there, which is the proper way. If you execute at better places, you will get results.”
Don’t be jealous, work hard
He further said, “This does not mean that you throw the bowl anywhere just because you are a bowler. If you throw it to the backside or outside, how will you get results? You may get a wicket or two with this approach. But the main thing which matters is whether are you exactly focussing on your target or not. If you are not targeting the aim properly, how will you get the results?”
Lamenting the Pakistani cricket players showcasing their jealousy for the performance of the Indian cricketers, Mohammed Shami said, “I am not saying that people are bowling incorrectly. But the targets I am focussing on and the way I think is happening there and the results are in front of you. I am not blaming anyone. I wish ten more such people would come ahead and do this. I am never jealous of anyone. You will become a much better player if you learn to enjoy the success of other players. I do not do anything different. God is the giver.”
Dismissing the controversies
Mohammed Shami dismissed all the controversies started by Pakistani cricketers and Pakistani cricket fans with detailed explanations. He said, “Actually, I have been listening to this for so long, especially after the World Cup started. I was not playing in the initial matches. When I played, I took five wickets. In the next match, I took four wickets. Then I took five wickets again. Some players from Pakistan could not digest it. What can I do about this? They have it in their minds that ‘we are the best’. In fact, only that player is best who performs on time.”
He added, “I respect only those players who do hard work, who perform, and who stand strong for their team. But you keep creating controversies about that and keep talking about it again and again. For example – ‘you are getting a ball of different colour’, ‘you are getting a ball from some different company’, ‘ICC has given you something different’. Hey brother, ‘Sudhar Jaao Yaar’. (Get well my friend).”
Mohammed Shami recalled how former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram ridiculed such controversies. He said, “Even Wasim Bhai (Wasim Akram) has explained the same thing to these people in one of his interviews. He detailed how the ball comes in a box, how it is chosen, which team is consulted first, etc. Even after that, you (Pakistani Cricketers) create such controversies? I can understand the feelings if you are not a cricketer and you have not played the game at this level. You are an ex-player. If you keep talking like this, I don’t think people will react in any way other than laughing at you. I know that I sound harsh when I speak. But these issues must be addressed. I am sorry if anyone is getting hurt by this But this is the truth.”
Mohammed Shami explained his skills of seam-bowling
Mohammed Shami then spoke about how he earned the skill he has. He said, “I hold the ball like all normal people and bowl it. The output is manifested from the area where I pitch it. That is how I claim a wicket. Now, everyone has different abilities and choices. Someone pitches it short, someone else pitches it at a length, and some bowlers are yorker specialists. I think it is okay if I am a mixture of all these things.”
It is not just a gift of God
Mohammed Shami said, “Experts say that I bowl on the seam. I like it when experts say ‘see how it is pitched on seam, see how it is delivered’. But after a couple of minutes, I get angry when someone says that it is a gift of God. My heightened happiness suddenly comes down. Then I reply to those people.”
He added, “I have said this in some other interviews as well. Let us assume that there is a thing like the gift of God. Then you are also a gift of God. The same Almighty has created you as well. I came to this world naked. You came to this world naked. You also have the same brain as me. You have the same four limbs as me. Why didn’t you do it if everything is the same? You should have done it then. You too could have taken it to the seam of the ball. The person got angry and asked ‘How are you saying this’? I replied ‘Am I telling lies’? You did not work on it so you did not get it.”
Reiterating the importance of hard work, he said, “I got it because I worked hard on it. I think anyone who works hard on it, will get the results. People do not want to do hard work but they want results just like that. It is not that easy. I can call everything a gift of God. Belittling one’s credibility and success by calling it a gift of God is sheer jealousy. Then I can also say that you can talk is a gift of God. Keep blabbering.”
Conspiracy theories peddled by former Pakistani cricketers
Many conspiracy theories were invented by Pakistani cricket enthusiasts and former cricket players to set a narrative that things in the current edition of the Cricket World Cup are fixed or set in order to benefit the Indian cricket team.
Former cricketer Hasan Raza, while appearing on a Pakistani news channel, had said that ICC or BCCI is providing some special kind of balls only to Indian bowlers due to which Indian bowlers like Shami and Siraj are getting swings even on batting pitches. Hasan Raza also asserted that there should be an ‘inspection’ of balls provided by the ICC. He also alleged that decisions are being made in favour of India in the matter of DRS. Reacting to Hasan Raza’s baseless and senseless assertion, former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram lambasted Hasan Raza saying that he too wants to try the same drugs these people (Hasan Raza) are smoking.
Former Pakistani Test cricketer Sikandar Bakht said during a Pakistani TV show that India’s captain Rohit Sharma deliberately threw the coin far away during the toss to dupe the opposition captain. The TV channel also showed the tosses between captains of other cricket teams to assert that these players do not throw the coin as far away as Rohit Sharma and that the result of the toss call is easily verifiable to the opposition captain standing nearby. This was deliberately done to discredit the impressive performance of the Indian cricket team in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
Indian cricket team emerged as the runners-up in the World Cup
The final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 was played between India and Australia on 19th November 2023 at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. Australia defeated India by 6 wickets while chasing the target of 241 runs. Indian batter Virat Kohli scored 765 runs in this tournament which is the most by any batter in any edition of the tournament so far. Indian bowler Mohammed Shami claimed 24 wickets to claim the fifth spot on the list of highest wicket-takers in the ICC Cricket World Cups so far.
