Paras Mhambrey, Team India’s bowling coach, has revealed that veteran bowler Mohammed Shami outperformed expectations in the 2023 World Cup. He went on to say that the quick bowler is always a beneficial influence on the game.
Shami took the most wickets in the 2023 World Cup, with 24 in seven matches at an average of 10.71. He did not participate in the first four matches for India before an injury to all-rounder Hardik Pandya prompted the Indian management to change their squad lineup.
Paras Mhambrey whose contract with the Indian squad expired after the World Cup, was cited by news agency PTI as saying of Shami:
“He (Shami) was incredible. He obviously hadn’t played the initial games, but the way he came back and bowled throughout the tournament was incredible. That’s not something we expected, but we always knew that he always has that positive impact on the game. He has been phenomenal.”
Paras Mhambrey
Shami has 5/54 and 5/18 against New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the league stage, respectively. He then astonished the Kiwis in the semi-finals with 7/57, the greatest statistics by an Indian bowler in ODIs.
Paras Mhambrey plans to handle the workload of Indian pacers
Mhambrey also agreed that, given the approaching hectic schedule, the Indian think tank would have to be very astute in how they manage the workload of the fast bowlers.
India is scheduled for seven Test matches in the World Test Championship (WTC). They’ll play South Africa in a two-game series in December-January. Then, England will come for five Tests during January and March.
“We will have to be very smart with the way we go forward in terms of managing the workload. These guys have played a lot of cricket, so we need to see how we want to go about it. We haven’t discussed it yet.”
Paras Mhambrey
The 51-year-old complimented lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah for making a great recovery from a possibly career-ending back injury that kept him out for months.
“We missed Bumrah for a major part, and you see the difference he brings when he is in the side. The way he has gone in this tournament especially, it’s massive. It has been challenging, but looking at the other side of it, it has also been an opportunity for us to work on the bench-strength,” the Indian bowling coach commented.
Paras Mhambrey
Jasprit Bumrah was a standout for India in the 2023 World Cup, taking 20 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 18.65.