Indian pacers were on top form in South Africa, propelling the team to victory in the opening test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. In the first Test, one Indian pacer in particular stood out from the crowd, tormenting the South African batters with bounce and movement in the air and off the field. Mohammed Shami took five wickets in the first innings and followed it up with three more in the second. In the on-going second test in Johannesburg, Shami was once again in the thick of it, giving India an early breakthrough by removing Aiden Markram on Day 1.
Former South African pacemaker Morne Morkel praised the Indian fast bowler, saying that Shami is “talking the ball” and making life very difficult for the Protease batters.
“He’s just a finely tuned bike at the moment. He rushes in and consistently lands the ball in the perfect areas. He lets the ball do the talking and makes life very difficult for South African batters,” Morkel said before the start. Star Sports. play on day 2.
The (Jasprit) Bumrah and Shami partnership only creates wickets. Even when they’re done, the batters think ‘okay, we can score now’, so India can take wickets even then. We talked about him. Shami is someone who is really respected in the South African dressing room. They are working on several game plans against him but so far he has just been too good,” added the former Proteas fast bowler.
In the ongoing second Test, India, minus captain Virat Kohli, chose to bat. Apart from stand-in skipper KL Rahul and all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, no other player could contribute meaningfully as the visitors were knocked out for 202 in the first innings.
promoted
India struck back early in the South African innings and Shami caused all kinds of problems. The Indian pacesetter got the better of Aiden Markram to give India the breakthrough.
However, Proteas captains Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen made sure there was no other setback for the hosts, taking their team to 35 for one at stumps on Day 1.
Topics mentioned in this article