Happy Birthday Mohammed Shami: From controversies to fitness issue, how Team India bowler rose to the occasion

Hailing from a remote village in Uttar Pradesh, Shami was born to a fast-bowler-turned-farmer. After being snubbed from the U19 selections due to alleged politically corrupt selections, Shami was advised to move to Kolkata.

Shami slowly made his way into the national side and was handed his ODI debut cap in early 2013. He started to make significant contributions and even became an indispensable asset to the side. 

He had even become the second-fastest Indian to 50 ODI wickets and had proved his worth in the 2015 World Cup taking 17 wickets and ending up as one of the highest wicket-takers in the tournament.

When it came to Test cricket, he made his debut in the home series against the West Indies, which was more popular as Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series. He impressed all and took 9 wickets on debut against the West Indies

He was initially part of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) but had got only a handful of opportunities. Soon after, Delhi Daredevils (DD) bought him for Rs. 4.25 crore in 2014. 

With his IPL economy rate above 9, his 5-year association with Delhi ended and he was released. 

During the 2019 IPL auctions, Shami was roped in by Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for Rs 4.40 crore. 

It was in 2018 that Mohammed Shami's life and career turned upside down. His wife Hasin Jahan had made allegations of adultery, domestic violence, rape and match-fixing against the cricketer. 

Not only was an FIR lodged, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had decided to withhold Shami's contract.

Jahan had claimed that the cricketer received money from a Pakistani woman, but Shami denied all the allegations and BCCI had cleared him of match-fixing charges. 

Hasin Jahan had even shared screenshots of Shami's conversations as well as telephone recordings, accusing him of having extra-marital affairs. 

Calling him a flirt, Jahan claimed that Shami wanted to marry a Bollywood actress like Virat Kohli did.

Shami spoke about the issue and had said, "I will also take legal action against her. I and my family always wanted to stay with her. I have always loved her. You have seen that how happy we were in the interview. But I feel she is planning something evil," Indian Express reported.

While the bowler said that he was taken aback by his wife's allegations, he said that he will continue to protect her and their daughter Aairah. 

Talking about match-fixing, Shami said, "I can die for the country but never betray." The pacer added that his only crime was being Hasin's husband.

During the 2019 World Cup, Shami was again embroiled in a story that had got netizens talking. It was about a screenshot shared by a girl in which Shami has allegedly sent a simple 'good afternoon' message. 

She asked why a cricketer was sending her random messages. DNA can't verify whether the message was indeed from Shami. However, the screenshot caught the attention of Twitter.

Mohammad Shami sent a ‘good afternoon’ text to a woman named Sophia on Instagram.

She in return screenshot him and put it all over social media. She wrote, "anyone wanna tell me why some random cricket player with 1.4m followers keeps messaging me".

While his private life was a different story altogether, the fast-paced game of cricket was also being demanding from Shami.

The man had developed a reputation of being prone to frequent breakdowns and even been hardly into fitness. 

However, the year 2019 changed everything. The then India's strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu was happy with Shami's dedication.

"Failing fitness tests in the past worked as a blessing in disguise for him. He came back a man determined to erase that track record. His entire training regime changed. Food, training, taking rest and repeating that cycle with total focus, he did that all. This Shami 2.0 you see today is the result of what he did himself," Indian Express reported.

Basu added that the process had started four years ago. "What you see now is the culmination of what began in 2015. What we did can be called lifestyle conditioning. It involves diet and nutrition, training, rest and recovery and following a routine.

"It didn’t happen overnight. But now, the players have become aware. They do most of the things on their own these days."

Despite everything going against Shami, the right-arm fast bowler did not back down. He was seen practising in the nets and making the effort to be a  regular in all forms of the game.

Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja had even said that Mohammed Shami is the most underrated bowler in the world. He added that Shami is much quicker than what people think and is extremely impressed with the wonderful seam position that Shami offers as well.

"In my opinion, the Indian bowling lineup right now is the best bowling lineup in the world, yes there are awesome bowlers all around the world, but that lineup is unbelievable. Jasprit Bumrah is one of the best bowlers in the world right now, awkward action, great bouncer, great skills, slow ball, he is a genius and jet and bowling like one right now. Ishant Sharma, he's a skillful bowler, he also bowls a really good length, he's been there for such a long time that experience is invaluable in these conditions.

Third, I think is the most underrated bowler in the world, in my opinion, Mohammed Shami, he's actually a lot quicker than you think, I think that's one of his skill sets and he always has that seam in a beautiful position but no one really talks about him genuine thing he is such a big part of that bowling lineup and people forget about him," said Khawaja on his YouTube channel.