Mohammad Shami, a top Indian fast bowler who has been one of the finest in the country in recent memory even though he is now out of the national team in all three formats, has been under the guidance of head coaches such as Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri, Rahul Dravid, and most recently Gautam Gambhir. However, Shami was not shy when it came to picking a mentor from this great group, and he chose Ravi Shastri.
Shami confirmed that Shastri deserves that distinction and in a conversation with Times Now Navbharat, said that the former ODI and T20 all-rounder built a culture of aggressive freedom on the field and he believed that he is the best at it now. Shami said while he was not able to put the two coaching tenures in a specific perspective of coaching, Gambhir, who did not last very long, and Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, but he did and his competitive nature was strongest. Shastri’s style of coaching was the one that allowed bowlers and batters to have the ultimate tactical and mental freedom to express themselves aggressively, and that fearless attitude translated into competitive fire in the match.
Shami recalled the best moment in his career from the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, when he took 24 wickets in 7 games to set the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in a single edition of the tournament. But he said personal achievements that he achieved are not as important as what the tournament had to do with the pain of being there and losing the title, as he admitted that the one thing he was most disappointed with was that India did not win it in the summit match.
Shami said the 2023 World Cup final loss is forever etched in his mind like a picture. While social media reels and statistical lists often recall his great wicket records, they also remind him of missed opportunities—how he was out of the first games of some big-ticket ICC matches due to team composition or fitness. Shami reflected on the missed games that he could have played every year, and as a whole, he thinks he would be in the top 5 of all international cricket tallies if he had played those extra games every year, and that’s why he’d love to have made it in the tournament and won the World Cup.
