Mohammed Shami, colour of the cricket ball notwithstanding

Mohammed Shami has proved that he is not a one trick pony and can deliver with both the red ball and the white ball.

Champion in Tests

There is little doubt about who the leading bowlers for India are in the test format, particularly in overseas conditions. Whenever India tours South Africa, England, New Zealand or Australia, all eyes are on JaspritBumrah and Mohammed Shami to provide the team with breakthroughs.

Shami has been doing quite well in the ODI format as well but when it comes to T20 cricket, there is an amount of skepticism attached to his name.

Poor form in T20 WC

Shami is exceptional in the powerplay but has a tendency to leak runs towards the end. He has developed a good slower delivery and a great yorker but even that does not prove enough against some of the biggest hitters in world cricket as was on display in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Despite his best efforts, Sharmi could not leave a mark against teams like Pakistan and New Zealand and India were knocked out of the competition fairly early.

Consistent IPL performances

That said, Shami continues to put in the performances in the IPL and has proved time and again that if given enough confidence and persisted with, he can prove to be a handful in the T20 format as well.

Shami was the leader of the pack for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 who went on to create history by winning the Championship in their inaugural edition. He was among the top 10 wicket takers in the season and took 20 wickets from 16 games at an average of 24.40 and an economy rate of 8.

Shami picked up a wicket off the very first ball of IPL 2022, castling KL Rahul and disturbed the woodwork of Riyan Parag on the very last ball of the season to symbolise how crucial and consistent he was for the franchise.

Full backing

The Uttar Pradesh bown bowler also mentored the likes of Yash Dayal and made sure that the youngster also put in some invaluable performances for the franchise.

He got the full support of captain Hardik Pandya and coach Ashish Nehra who allowed him to do his thing without any interference and the results are for everyone to see.

One hopes that he carries his T20 form for India as well.