Team India desperately needs a win as they are on the verge of losing their sixth straight match when they face Australia in Canberra in the third ODI of the series, which has already been bagged by the hosts. For India to avoid a back-to-back shutout, it needs its bowlers to finally do well.
While all the attention has been focused on the poor form of the leading pacemaker Jasprit Bumrah, the performance of the trusty Mohammed Shami has not been up to par. Shami was the best Indian bowler on display in the first match as he collected 3 wickets and had an economy of less than 6 runs over when the others went too far.
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But he was out of place in the second match and that resulted in the Australians racking up an even higher score. However, Shami would want to fix things together with his teammates in Canberra, as India will look to salvage some pride.
Shami’s rise in recent years across all formats has been a great story for Indian cricket, but has been overshadowed by the meteoric rise of Bumrah, who is hailed as one of the best of this generation globally.
But this attention on Bumrah and his prowess has meant that Shami’s great record has gone unnoticed. He has been a consistent player in ODI cricket and is only two wickets away from breaking a long-standing record held by Ajit Agarkar.
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Shami, who has 148 plots at just 79 ODIs, could become the fastest Indian to reach the 150 ODI plots milestone if he gets a key in Canberra. That would also make him the third-fastest pitcher on the feat, with only Australian Mitchell Starc (77 games) and Pakistani Saqlain Mushtaq (79) ahead.
Shami is almost guaranteed to become the fastest Indian to reach the milestone, as Agarkar reached the milestone in 97 matches.
India needs a big-hearted performance from Shami to beat the aggressive Australian hitters and the pacemaker would also have an eye on this record.
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