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Batsman Sarfaraz Khan is all set to play under Rohit Sharma in the Bangladesh Test series which starts on September 19
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Cricket World Cup 2023: Shami stakes a claim for a regular spot in playing eleven
Given how he has performed, it will be difficult to drop Shami
Indian bowler Mohammed Shami celebrates the wicket of New Zealand batter Matthew Henry. — PTI
Hardik Pandya injured his ankle in the game against Bangladesh which forced India to play a specialist batsman in Suryakumar Yadav and pace bowler Mohammed Shami for the first time in this World Cup on Sunday.
It was Shami who grabbed the opportunity with both hands, picking up his second five-wicket haul in World Cup with figures of 5/54 against New Zealand.
For the first time in the World Cup, the Indians were sloppy in the field, dropping catches of both Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell as both batsmen capitalised on India's poor fielding.
At 178/2 in the 33rd over India were running out of ideas as they did not have a sixth bowler, having dropped Shardul Thakur for an extra batter.
But India had the cushion of a proper bowler in Shami who ran in with right seam position and picked wickets when it mattered.
He first got rid of opener Will Young and then got the prize wicket of Rachin to stop the New Zealand flow. His regular strikes helped India restrict the Kiwis to just 273.
It was a brilliant comeback from India as at one stage New Zealand looked set for a 300 plus score.
The credit goes to Shami who was simply awesome in the slog overs, hitting the timber more often than not to get a five-wicket haul in his first appearance in this World Cup.
Even in the first match of the ODI series against Australia before the World Cup, Shami picked up five wickets but still could not find a place in the Indian playing eleven at the World Cup.
The reason was simple. Skipper Rohit Sharma has been very clear in his ideas of playing two specialist fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj along with two all-rounders in Pandya and Shardul.
Hence Shami, despite his superb record in ODIs where he has taken 176 wickets in 95 games at an average of 25.09, has found himself on the bench.
But it will be interesting to see now how the team management will make their strategy in the remaining four games with India almost securing a place in the semifinals.
Given how he has performed, it will be difficult to drop Shami.
But having said that, the Indian team might be tempted to continue with Shardul for his batting skills at number eight once Pandya returns.
Having three all-rounders (Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul) in the playing eleven is great for the balance of the team.
But Shami is the better bowler who can change a game in just one spell.
It's a big selection headache for India whose fortunes in the tournament could depend on their think tank making the right decision in the knockout stages.
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