Mohammed Shami turned the beast mode on in the second innings of the first Test against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Mohammed Shami turned the beast mode on in the second innings of the first Test against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
He picked up five wickets - most of which were clean bowled - to ease India to a 203-run win.
The 'destructive' bowler - who literally broke the off stump into two halves - credited skipper Virat Kohli for producing the best out of his bowlers.
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He said that Kohli gives them the freedom to decide the length of their bowling spells.
Speaking on Star Sports’ Cricket Live Program after the match, Shami said: “Virat Kohli as a captain always hears us out and gives us the freedom to follow our strategy during the match. He has given us the freedom to take a call on whether we want to bowl 5 overs or 7 overs or more -- he says ‘if you have the power, go ahead and bowl’.”
The bowler added that the team completely trusts the captain. “That’s when we take a call that we will bowl three overs but with full power... That’s the understanding we have. He trusts us, and we trust him,” Shami said.
Shami even praised R Ashwin, who equalled Muttiah Muralitharan’s record of being the fastest bowler to reach 350 Test wickets in 66 matches. “Ashwin has a lot of Test cricket experience, and bowled very well in both the first and second innings,” he said.
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“When you have great bowlers like Ashwin and Jadeja in the team, the fast bowlers can breathe easy and relax, knowing that they are there,” the seamer added.
With the win in Vizag, India have taken a 1-0 lead over the Proteas. The two will face each other again in Pune for the 2nd Test which begins Thursday this week.
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