Both me and Shami share a good chemistry: Umesh

Md-Shami
Md Shami in action at Sir Vivian Richards stadium in Antigua during the first test against West Indies.

Debasis Sen, Antigua: India are on the brink of a comprehensive win over the West Indies in the first test match here at Sir Vivian Richards stadium in Antigua. The hosts still trail by 302 runs with 9 wickets left. Only a miracle can save the hosts from an embarrassing win.

Earlier it was the Indian fast bowlers, particularly Md Shami and Umesh Yadav who did most of the damage getting the hosts bowled out for 243 runs. Both Shami and Umesh returned with 4 wickets each. Shami struck early in the second innings too, getting rid of Kraig Brathwaite, who was the top scorer for the hosts in the first innings.

Shami, who had an injury prone last season as a career-threatening knee injury ruled him out of international cricket for more than a year. But the lion hearted bowler came back with a bang as he bowled a very impressive spell of fast bowling here in the first test so far. The fast bowler from Bengal became the third-fastest Indian bowler and joint fastest pace bowler to 50 wickets in Tests. He achieved it in 13 Tests, equal with Venkatesh Prasad. India’s spin wizard, Erapalli Prasanna, is the fastest Indian to 50 wickets by getting it in 12 Tests.

None of the West Indian batsmen looked to be at ease facing Shami as he troubled them on a sluggish Antigua pitch. Shami has always enjoyed bowling against the West Indies so far in his short career. In his debut series in 2013/14, the right-arm fast bowler picked up 11 wickets, including a haul of 5/47 in Kolkata as India won the series 2-0

Umesh Yadav too bowled well in tandem with Shami. The Vidharbha fast bowler also picked 4 wickets along with Shami. Umesh emphasized on the rapport both he and Shami shared while bowling together.

“Our chemistry is very good and we are always giving confidence to each other and pushing each other through tough times on such wickets. And try to bowl as per the plan. I can see that Shami is bowling very well but he is not getting wickets. So my job is to go and compliment him and tell him to keep going. Because I know if he is bowling well from one end it will only help the other bowler from the other end. So if he don’t bowl to plan and don’t complement each other it will be difficult for us. Wickets won’t come otherwise, so we had to plan bowl dot balls and maidens. Then only way we would get wickets and so it is important to complement each other, bowl maidens from both ends and the wicket can come from the other end also. All about backing each other and supporting team mates and our bonding is very good. We are always sharing jokes and laughing and that helps us get through difficult times on difficult pitches and it is important to support each other in such cases.”

He further went on adding that to have someone like Shami who is a natural bowler made his job much easier.

“He is a natural bowler. He is not struggling after injury but he is fit now and he doesn’t need to be told where to bowl. He is a smart bowler and he has in swing, out swing, a good bouncer, he is a complete bowler so he is a good bowler and I don’t think there is a need to even compliment him. He is a very talented bowler and we all of us in the group complement each other.”