Former South Africa player Daryll Cullinan has showered praise on Indian pace bowler Mohammed Shami after his five-wicket haul that saw the visitors bundled out the Proteas for 197 on day 3 of the Centurion Test. He even compared Shami to fast-bowling greats like Shaun Pollock and James Anderson as well.
Shami picked up 5/44 in South Africa’s first innings and he also became the fifth Indian pacer to claim 200 Test wickets as well. Cullinan lauded him for his seam position and control. During a discussion on ESPNCricinfo, the former South African player explained:
“His seam position is perfectly up there. Just watching him bowl today reminded me of the likes of (Shaun) Pollock, (James) Anderson. They don’t seem to waste a ball. If you’re on strike, there’s constantly that subtle variation and good seam positions. It is not as if you anticipate the line and length.”
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He continued:
“It’s that control which may vary, sort of a foot wide in the crease. It may be a foot fuller or shorter. He finds that in between length where you never know whether you should be forward or back. He’s constantly asking you questions. You can see there’s a thought process behind everything that he is doing.”
He has got smarter as well – Deep Dasgupta on Mohammed Shami
During the interaction, former India player Deep Dasgupta also said that Mohammed Shami has worked hard on his fitness, which has made him a much-improved bowler now as well. He claimed:
“Shami has worked very hard to bowl those long spells. In the last 2-3 years, he has picked up 4-5 five-fers. That also tells you that it wasn’t his potential or his skill set, it was his fitness that was letting him down. Last 3-4 years, he’s been absolutely brilliant and he has got smarter as well. He uses the crease really well and today was a great example of him using the crease.”
However, apart from Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur also picked up two wickets each as India have taken a significant first-innings lead too. Deep Dasgupta also opened up on India’s frequent batting collapses which have become a cause of concern.
“This has been happening way too often in the last few years.” He added, “For India, make sure you bat South Africa out of the game. They need to make sure a South African win is not an option post-lunch on Day 4,” he concluded.
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