‘This bowling will be cherished by cricket lovers for generations’ – PM Modi congratulates Mohammed Shami for his spell against New Zealand

The Indian cricket team’s ace pacer Mohammed Shami recently made headlines as he recorded his career-best figures against New Zealand in the first semi-final match of the ODI World Cup 2023 on 15 November at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Shami turned out to be a saviour for the Indian cricket team yet again in the knockout game. 

Shami registered a spell of 9.5-0-57-7 with an economy of 5.8 to lead India towards victory against New Zealand by 70 runs. India has now qualified for the finals of the ODI World Cup 2023 after 12 years. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mohammed Shami for his career-best spell, which led India towards the finals of the ODI World Cup 2023 on his social media account. He tweeted, “Today’s Semi Final has been even more special thanks to stellar individual performances too. The bowling by @MdShami11 in this game and also through the World Cup will be cherished by cricket lovers for generations to come. Well played Shami!”.

Check out the wishes by former Indian cricketers for Mohammed Shami 

“Shami ka zabra fan 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Another 5 wickets spell .. #INDvsNZ”, tweeted Harbhajan Singh. 

“7 wkt in a WC semi final, India is blessed to have such a genuine match winner. #shami”, tweeted Muhammad Kaif. 

“Ye Ferrari tez hai… well done brother. So proud of you @MdShami11”, tweeted Irfan Pathan. 

After being awarded as the player of the match against New Zealand in the post-match ceremony Mohammed Shami said, “I was waiting for my turn. I wasn’t playing much white ball cricket. I had in mind, we talk about a lot of things like yorkers and slower balls. I tried to take wickets with the new ball. I try to take as many as I can with the new ball. I dropped the catch of Kane. I felt bad. I tried to take pace off. They were playing their shots. So, I took a chance. The wicket was good.” 

“There was the fear of dew. The grass was cut off nicely. The runs were enough. Had dew come in, things could have been bad. The slower balls might not have worked. I feel amazing. This is a huge platform. We lost in the semis in the 2015 and the 2019 WC. Looking to cash in with the chance I have been given. We don’t know when all of us will get a chance like this again”, he added.