Shami fails to sizzle, Baroda progress

In Bengal’s quarterfinal clash against Baroda at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday, Bengal pacer Shami didn't show signs of discomfort in the joints, but he didn’t look comfortable with the game itself.

Bengaluru: India might be better served if they look beyond Mohammed Shami for the moment.

In the aftermath of their second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test loss against Australia, it was plenty evident that India’s pace unit in Australia needs some refurbishing.

Naturally, Shami’s name came up because there was reason enough to believe that the rehabilitation on his knee had gone well enough for him to be inserted into the playing XI at some point during the five-Test series.

If Wednesday’s signs are anything to go by, the Indian team will want to reconsider the person they have in mind to alleviate their pace woes.

In Bengal’s quarterfinal clash against Baroda at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday, the Bengal pacer didn't show signs of discomfort in the joints, but he didn’t look comfortable with the game itself.

He finished with somewhat respectable figures of 2 for 43 from four overs, but given the context of the tournament and the team’s reliance on him, he surely came up short.

Baroda eventually ended up winning the game by 41 runs to qualify for the semifinals.

While the domestic T20 tournament assumes significance in offering a chance for white-ball proponents to either establish themselves or make a mark, this opportunity meant more for Shami.

While it isn’t typical to look at white-ball performances to gauge the proficiency of a bowler in red-ball cricket, Shami’s case forced the selection committee to do so.

His numbers for the tournament aren’t poor (11 wickets from 8 games), but his economy is at 7.8 runs an over. Worse still, he didn’t look like he had the lungs on him after just a couple of overs on Wednesday.

He ran in hard, hit the crease with abundant force and generated good pace, but his customary control was not in view, not nearly. He was operating in lengths by the over and not by the situation or the batter, meaning he chose to bowl on a good length or short or in the blockhole for an entire over and stuck to it.

While the yorker stuff was spot on, those six deliveries came about in his fourth over. By then, Baroda had scored more than Bengal would be capable of scaling.

Evidently, Shami was just working the ropes and getting into the rhythm with Australia on his mind. That, however, may have cost Bengal a spot in the semifinals and may have even cost him his spot on the Indian team.

Brief scores: At M Chinnaswamy stadium:

Baroda: 172/7 in 20 overs (Shashwat Rawat 40, Abhimanyusingh Rajput 37; Mohammed Shami 2-43, Kanishk Seth 2-39, Pradipta Pramanik 2-6) bt Bengal: 131 all out in 18 overs (Ritwik Roy Chowdhury 29, Shahbaz Ahmed 55; Hardik Pandya 3-37, Lukman Meriwala 3-17, Atit Sheth 3-41).

At Alur:

Vidarbha: 221/6 in 20 overs (Atharva Taide 66, Karun Nair 26, Apoorv Wankhade 51, Shubham Dubey 43 n.o., Atharva Ankolekar 2-32, Suryansh Shedge 2-36) lt to Mumbai: 224/4 in 19.2 overs (Prithvi Shaw 49, Ajinkya Rahane 84, Shivam Dube 37 n.o., Suryansh Shedge 36 n.o.; Dipesh Parwani 2-33).