BeautifulGame Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 The lean middle-aged gentleman had come with his teenage son on a summer evening. "My son can bowl really fast. He terrorises batsmen in his village. I want you to coach him," he said. It wasn't an unusual request. Over the years Badruddin Siddiqui, the coach at Moradabad's Subhash Chandra Bose stadium, would find shopkeepers and babus, farmers and cops - rough and ready men of western UP - approaching him with similar requests. They all believed their sons were special, the next Tendulkar or Brett Lee, possibly even better. Badruddin looked at the lad. For his age, a callow 14-15, he looked built to last. He was wearing a T-shirt, track pants and sneakers. "Where's your all-white kit?" the coach asked. "I don't have one," the boy replied. "I'll buy it soon." Badruddin asked him to bowl. The teenager didn't measure his run-up. He just trudged 20-22 steps, hurtled in and bowled. "The first ball was wide but pretty sharp," recalls the coach. "Several wides followed before he got one on the mark. But every ball he bowled for the next 30 minutes was of the same high speed. "Usme jaan thi. Fast bowler mein aur kuchch ho na ho jaan to honi hi chahiye. I told him he would have to practice at least six hours every day. He replied he would practice even more." Before leaving, the youngster gave his name: Mohammed Shami. "Shami broke one of the stumps with one of his deliveries on the day he first bowled in front of the man who would become his coach, Badruddin," recalls the speedster's father, Tauseef Ahmed, a well-heeled farmer with 22 acres of land where mango and guava orchards grow in Amroha district's Sahaspur village, about 20 km from the ground. Ironically, neither Badruddin nor Tauseef are sure of the year. It was 2004 or may be 2005. For the next few days, Shami was just asked to run, exercise, get fitter. Many kids get impatient at this stage, says the coach. But Shami was different. He followed the drill to the D. "He stood out immediately for his work ethic," says Badruddin, who in his playing days was "a medium pacer who could also bat". Much before IPL, Moradabad had its own 20-over league. Two teams would be set up from the boys who trained at the stadium. The coach named Shami in one of them. He failed in the first game but took five wickets in the next. Badruddin remembers two attributes of his most famous ward. "Even those days, Shami had a decent in-cutter. And after a match ended, he would ask for the old balls." Shami was addicted to shining one side of an old ball. Even while walking in the bylanes of his village, he would toss the ball in the air. "He had a certain junoon, a madness about him," says Badruddin. A year later, the coach decided to take him for the Uttar Pradesh Under-19 trials in Kanpur. "Shami made it to the final round. But in the end, the selectors patted him on the back and said, 'work hard and come back next year'," recalls Badruddin. "Shami was absolutely gutted. I was about 20 meters away. It seemed like a mile for him. He could hardly walk. When we came back to Moradabad, he didn't come to practice for 3-4 days. I had to counsel him, make him aware that the road to success isn't exactly strewn with roses," says Badruddin. Shami started playing again. "That's when I got a call from Dalhousie Athletic Club, Kolkata. They needed a fast bowler. I spoke to his father. He said, 'how can I send him so far?' I told him, 'if he becomes a top cricketer, he will be playing away from home anyway'." Shami's rise in Kolkata has been well chronicled. What's little known is that Sourav Ganguly provided critical help at this stage. "Shami got selected for Bengal's under-22 squad but never got to play. One day, Dada asked for some net bowlers. After playing Shami's first ball, Dada asked him, 'where do you play?' When he said he was among the reserves in the u-22 team, Ganguly was shocked. After the nets, he spoke to Shami for about 30 minutes. He must have called some people in CAB because after that Shami got to play in U-22. He got five wickets. It was a turning point for him," says Tauseef. Since those early days, Shami has improved beyond recognition. But the fast bowler has also brought a fundamental change in the life of his coach. He laughs, "Now most of my new students are wannabe pacemen. Shami ko coach karke fast bowler ke coach ka stamp lag gaya." http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-series/cricket-news/71149/the-making-of-india-spearhead-mohammed-shami That bolded part sums up our domestic cricket structure perfectly.We probably would have lost Shami if not for Dada's lucky interference
ThePhenomenal1 Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Brilliant seamer for india, hope more surface
Cricketics Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 This is a big game coming up in sydney for him. I really hope and our bowlers do well in a knock out game. He will be tested here a lot against finch-Warne-Clarke-Smith. He is much better bowler now than what he was during the start of the tour or before the tri series. It will be just great to see him getting quick top order wickets of Australia to put real pressure on them.
Cricket_Hacker Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 This is a big game coming up in sydney for him. I really hope and our bowlers do well in a knock out game. He will be tested here a lot against finch-Warne-Clarke-Smith. He is much better bowler now than what he was during the start of the tour or before the tri series. It will be just great to see him getting quick top order wickets of Australia to put real pressure on them. he was pretty good in the last series he played before Australia.(10 wickets in 3 games vs WI)
Cricketics Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 he was pretty good in the last series he played before Australia.(10 wickets in 3 games vs WI) I agree, but just confidence wise, he has improved more now. Always had great confidence on Shami and Bhuvneshwar. Off course Bhuvi hasn't gotten chance because others have done well, but Shami has been really good for us.
Vijy Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Shami has become a solid ODI bowler, but he still bowls quite a few boundary balls.
Gollum Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Dada has a great eye for talent, his contribution to Indian cricket is mind blowing. And kudos to Shami, hopefully he doesn't get complacent in life. I see a Zak in him.
panther Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Brother shami is just class, especially with an old ball, hope ICC revert back to the old rules.
Gollum Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Brother shami is just class' date=' especially with an old ball, hope ICC revert back to the old rules.[/quote'] Brother Panther Bhai, who are your favorite Indian players?
panther Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Brother Panther Bhai' date=' who are your favorite Indian players?[/quote'] In order Mohammad azharuddin Mohammad shami Irfan pathan Yusuf pathan Mohammad kaif Zaheer khan
Gollum Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 In order Mohammad azharuddin Mohammad shami Irfan pathan Yusuf pathan Mohammad kaif Zaheer khan :icflove:
Texy Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 In order Mohammad azharuddin Mohammad shami Irfan pathan Yusuf pathan Mohammad kaif Zaheer khan :hysterical: Panther u brilliant b.astard :giggle:
FischerTal Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 The word spearhead reminds me of another Indian bowling legend
Vijy Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 The word spearhead reminds me of another Indian bowling legend Is it the one-and-only I****t?
jalebi_bhai Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 In order Mohammad azharuddin Mohammad shami Irfan pathan Yusuf pathan Mohammad kaif Zaheer khan What about Munaf Patel?
hazharoon Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 Spearhead? Only one spearhead in India - Atul Sharma! Anyways seriously, Shami is a good prospect and lets hope he continues this way. I really don't want to see him fade away like his contemporaries. Happens to all Indian bowlers sadly. Similar to our batsman!
BlueBee Posted March 22, 2015 Posted March 22, 2015 Atul Sharma is still pushing tyres somewhere :hysterical:
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