World Cup 2023: He proved a point – Ramiz Raja on Mohammed Shami’s bowling performance against New Zealand

Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja has heaped praise on Mohammed Shami for his match-winning performance against New Zealand at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala on Sunday.

The right-arm fast bowler returned with impressive figures of 5-54 in his quota of 10 overs, which is his best performance in the World Cups. Shami accounted for New Zealand opener Will Young with his first delivery.

Shami also got the big wicket of Rachin Ravindra to break the 159-run alliance with Daryl Mitchell. Towards the fag end, Shami got crucial wickets of Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, and centurion Daryl Mitchell to bundle out New Zealand at 273. Thus, he was awarded Player of the Match for his fine show.

Shami didn’t get to play in the first four matches as India preferred Shardul Thakur ahead of him but the Bengal pacer was able to prove his mettle against the Kiwis.

“It is very tough to take a five-wicket haul after being benched. It was a very big performance. This is why India are so strong. The players on the bench are very capable of replacing any member of the playing XI and winning the Player of the Match award. He was phenomenal in the death overs. He proved a point. Shami should have played a lot earlier, as he is a match-winner,” Ramiz Raja said in his latest YouTube video.

In fact, it seemed New Zealand would easily post more than 300 runs on the board but India was able to pull back things towards the end as they conceded only 55 runs in the final 11 overs and picked four wickets.

“India’s fast bowling in the last 10 overs was world-class. Once upon a time, Pakistan used to bowl like this. India have become a top-quality team with the ball. They have a killer combination in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami.”

Raja reckons Daryl Mitchell slowed down to complete his personal milestone of a century and thus New Zealand lost the momentum it had.

“New Zealand bounced back after a shaky start. Daryl Mitchell played a very good knock, scoring over 100 runs. However, he failed to accelerate when it was required. India powered their way back into the game during the death overs. It would have been a lot tougher had the score been somewhere around 310. Daryl Mitchell was well-set but slowed down to score a century. They lost momentum at that point.”

India will next take on reigning champions England at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Sunday.