Shami talking about reverse swing

[express bowling]

An excerpt from an interview by Md. Shami....published on BCCITV

 

http://www.bcci.tv/news/2016/features-and-interviews/14303/shami-and-his-love-for-reverse-swing

 

 

"  A rewind to the tour against West Indies in Kolkata on Test debut back in 2013 was one of the prime examples that Shami could be the next one in the line to execute the reverse swing to perfection. “There is a different joy in bowling reverse swing,” Shami says. “The old ball is one of my main weapons and I am comfortable bowling with the old ball. I know if I can get a hint of reverse swing, I can use it to good effect. The moment I start getting the ball to reverse, I get back to one of my bowling strong points. I love bowling reverse swing. When the ball is reversing I try to get the batsman out bowled or get him LBW. These two are the mode of dismissals that you get with reverse swing. When I get a feel that it is going to help reverse swing I look to hit the top of off-stump maximum number of times or else I aim at the batsman’s pad. Both these factors happened today against Watling and Craig.”  

 

But, it ain’t easy to get the ball to reverse, this requires a collective effort to get the ball ready for reverse swing. “There is a lot of work behind getting the ball to reverse swing,” Shami begins to explain. “It is like team effort, every member of the team makes it a point to keep the ball dry at all times and maintain it throughout the day. There are times when you will get reverse swing but if it gets wet, you won’t be able to execute swing perfectly because the ball will tend to get heavy.” 

“While bowling, consistency and accuracy is very important for reverse swing. If you bowl too full you will go for runs or too much at the back of the length, you won’t be able to get swing. As a bowler you have to pitch in the right area and maintain that line and length which is very important to get the reverse swing right. I constantly work hard to get my lines right to execute reverse swing well.”