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[caption id="attachment_19789" align="alignnone" width="580"] Md Shami has been impressive since making a comeback after a long injury lay off. Image Source: Xtra Time[/caption] Debasis Sen, St Lucia: Indian speedster Md Shami has surprised everyone with his rhythm straightaway, after coming back from a long injury lay off. There is never a dull moment when the pacer from UP is bowling. His easy run-up and delivery stride enables him to land the ball perfectly, forcing the batsman to make errors. He also has the steep bouncer and it can rattle the best in the business as Marlon Samuels found out upon his arrival in the second innings in the Jamaica Test. His fuller one comes with a speed and it can either knock down a stump or take an outside edge. Shami has already earned the accolades from his coach Anil Kumble. “I am very happy that he is pleased with my bowling and has shown confidence in my abilities. When I bowl, I look to keep it close to the batsman and make him play as much as possible with both the new and the old ball. As a player it is very important to have the confidence of your coach and captain. It is a big thing for any player but then you have to do that role properly as well and so my effort is to make sure that whatever role I am given I perform that as best possible. Going ahead I just want to give my best for the team,” said Shami on the sidelines of the Darren Shami National Cricket Stadium on Sunday. Shami was out of the Indian Test team for almost a year and a half following knee surgery. For a fast bowler, a knee injury is one of the worst you can get, as bad as a shoulder or back injury. The damage that fast bowling does to the body is inherently intense, with bruised toes and bad backs an occupational hazard. But he always had the determination and courage to go through the difficult phase. “My only focus was to reduce my weight as much as possible and control my diet as much as possible because that would mean getting back to fitness would be easier. Even so I have lost nearly 14-15 kgs which went above because I was in bed for two months. So had to work hard to lose it all and the result you can see now.I went through rehab in the NCA for 7-8 months. It was just about confidence after that within me and I was trying to continue from where I had left off before the injury. Thankful to god that happened and I hope it keeps going in the same vein.” Shami has so far bowled 30 overs in the first Test and 29 in the second. Speaking on the secret behind his comeback, he said, “I kept working in the gym for up to six hours every day. I was overweight, I had to get back in shape and after that, the challenge was to bowl in the same manner as I used to. It was a really tough phase it required tremendous hard work. Thanks to the Almighty that I have achieved the same rhythm as before. I had given full freedom to our trainers and coaches. I told them, “You put me through any sort of discomfort and I am ready to bear the pain. Treat me the way you wish to, but make sure I am back to my best". The short ball has been very effective for Shami so far in the series, a weapon he has mastered his skill with. “There are only two ways to test the batsmen either you can pitch it up or you can bowl short. So my plan is to make the batsmen uncomfortable, find that out and keep doing it. I was trying to read the batsmen’s weakness early.” Shami was quick to accept that the West Indies lower order batsmen batted really well to enforce a draw at Sabina Park. “We have to see that in test cricket ups and downs happen. But they also played well even if the wicket was a bit flat and the conditions were good for batting. But they played well in their second innings and we have to praise them. Our effort will be to not allow a repeat of that and keep our confidence high and win the next match.” The fast bowler from Bengal has recently developed a knack of reading the pitch early. He is the go to man for his captain whenever the team is in trouble. “No you cannot just look at the pitch and read it. We can just guess and have an idea about how it will play and after bowling on it you can guess how much bounce and carry the pitch has. It depends on how the surface is and only after bowling you get to know how it behaves and you have to identify that quickly and understand the conditions.”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQmHv3kwk98