Mohammed Shami's Homecoming: Bengal pacer aims further chaos in City of Joy

Add as a preferred source on Google

The World Cup 2023 juggernaut will be solely focused at the City of Joy tomorrow (Sunday, November 5). India take on South Africa at the iconic Eden Gardens and it promises to be a crunch encounter.

Kolkata, the city of joy, is filled with immense joy and pride as it welcomes the return of its hero, Mohammed Shami. Known for his fierce fast bowling and unflinching perseverance, Shami has been instrumental for India in the last three matches.

Shami's fierce bowling is a testament to the record he has now in this World Cup. Playing just three matches, the pacer has picked up 14 wickets in this edition. And the perseverance and resilience kind of reflect from his elite performances despite being left out in the first four matches.

As India take on the Proteas, the talk of the town is Virat Kohli. The batting stalwart is looking for the elusive 49th ODI century and he will have an opportunity to achieve that on his birthday tomorrow.

Eden Gardens is preparing for Virat Kohli's birthday, but a share of the limelight is also for the returning son Mohammed Shami. After his heroics in the tournament, Shami is the bowler whom Kolkata want to see the most against South Africa.

Mohammed Shami in World Cup 2023

Shami has thus far played 3 matches and has 14 wickets to his name, as mentioned earlier.

He played his first match against New Zealand and got a five-for, then got a four-fer against England, and topped that with another five-for against Sri Lanka in the last match. Shami's serial hunt in this World Cup means he tops many lists of the chart, and his form is a grave concern for India's opponents.

Despite playing three matches, Shami has the best bowling average (6.71 runs per wicket), best bowling strike rate (9.43 balls per wicket) and most five-wicket hauls (2) in this World Cup.

Also, the bowler is now the highest wicket-taker for India in the World Cups. Shami took only 14 innings to get ahead of Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath's 44 wickets tally, a feat which took Zaheer 23 innings, and 10 more for Javagal Srinath.

Mohammed Shami's Homecoming in Kolkata

It all started in Bengal for the Indian pacer. Despite being a UP native, Shami's cricket kicked off in the maidans of Kolkata. He played through the club ranks in CAB tournaments and slowly made his way up in the hierarchy and then represented Bengal.

Debabarata Das, the joint secretary of CAB has been instrumental behind the rise of Shami. The pacer's first club in Kolkata was Town Club, and Mr. Das is still the foremost official of the club. Back in those days, Shami even used to stay at Das's residence.

"This was bound to happen. He was outstanding before and he is still the same. Sometimes he has to be used properly by the captain. And the biggest thing for Shami is humbleness. He remains the same on good days or bad days," Das said to OneIndia Bengali on Friday.

When asked about his expectations from Shami, Das readily says Bengal's prodigal son will pick five wickets again.

And as the 33-year-old takes the field on Sunday, he would be aiming for more chaos. So far the mayhem he has created in this tournament has been the perfect fuel for India. He has come in and has disrupted, dismantled and decimated his opposition. And it's time for more, that also against the second-best team in this World Cup.

Kolkata, in this time of festivities, is complete chaos. And the people of the city of joy won't mind a bit more of that at the Eden Gardens.