Champions Trophy 2025: Mohammed Shami Earns Praise After Becoming India’s Highest Wicket-Taker in ICC ODI Events

Former India cricketer and JioHotstar expert Piyush Chawla heaped praise on Mohammed Shami after the pace veteran continued his 'great love story with ICC tournaments' during India's Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh.

After battling an injury that kept him out of action for over a year and below par performances on return, the 34-year-old delivered when it mattered the most by picking five-wicket haul in India's 6-wicket win over Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday (February 20).

While Bangladesh is not really the greatest threat to the Men in Blue, the fact that India has only three games to decide their fate in the tournament and their next one is a high-octane, pressure-raising game against arch-rivals Pakistan, it was vital for India to start off well.

Shami delivered a five-wicket haul, his fifth in ICC ODI events with figures of 5/53, including two early wickets that dismantled the Bangladesh top-order and left them reeling at 35/5 before Towhid Hridoy and Jaker Ali steadied ship with their 154-run stand, taking the team to 228 runs.

With his latest fifer, Shami overtook legendary Zaheer Khan to become India's top wicket-taker in ODI ICC events, with 60 scalps. Having played in only one Champions Trophy match, Shami achieved this feat after a splendid performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Most wickets for India in ICC ODI Events (World Cup & Champions Trophy)

Mohammed Shami - 60 wickets (55 wickets in ODI WC & 5 wickets in CT)
Zaheer Khan - 59 wickets (44 wickets in ODI WC & 15 wickets in CT)
Javagal Srinath - 47 wickets (44 wickets in ODI WC & 3 wickets in CT)
Ravindra Jadeja - 43 wickets (27 wickets in ODI WC & 16 wickets in CT)
Jasprit Bumrah - 42 wickets (38 wickets in ODI WC & 4 wickets in CT)
Anil Kumble - 42 wickets (31 wickets in ODI WC & 11 wickets in CT)

Following this achievement, former Indian spinner labelled Shami's performance in ICC tournaments as 'a great love story' and said the pacer is just getting started after the injury comeback.

"ICC tournaments and Mohammed Shami-it's a great love story. Whenever he plays in an ICC tournament, he turns into a different bowler altogether. He's coming back from injury, and while he looked a bit rusty in the recent bilateral series, the positive sign was that he was getting his overs in," Chawla said on JioHotstar.

"Today, he looked much better. We are yet to see a 100% Shami, but this five-wicket haul will definitely boost his confidence. It's crucial to assess the conditions, and Shami, with his upright seam position, knows exactly where to pitch the ball.

"He consistently hit the six-to-eight-meter mark, which allowed him to get movement off the surface. That's why he was successful, picking up early wickets with the new ball. It was also great to see him using variations, including well-disguised slower balls."

In the post-match presentation ceremony, skipper Rohit Sharma sung praise for the senior pacer saying, "Very happy for him (Shami), long time waiting. We know what he brings to us. We need guys like him to stand up when we need."

Also among all the bowlers who have bowled at least 10 innings across two ODI tournaments, the 50-over World Cup and Champions Trophy, Shami has the best average (13.28) and best strike rate (15.5), as per Wisden.

With 5/53 vs Bangladesh, Shami now has five five-wicket hauls in ICC ODI events, two more than Australian stars Glenn McGrath, Mitchell Starc and Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman. Four of Shami's fifers have come in the World Cup.

The 34-year-old also accomplished 200 ODI wickets in this match, becoming the fastest Indian to do so and third-fastest overall. In terms of balls taken, he is the fastest to the milestone, with his double century of wickets coming in 5,126 balls.