Team India captain Rohit Sharma asserted that it was tough for premier pacer Mohammed Shami to miss the initial matches of the World Cup but during that team, he was supporting the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah.
Shami failed to make the cut in the XI for the first four matches of the tournament but once Hardik Pandya got injured, India turned towards him and there has been no stopping for him since then.
Shami has been the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup at the moment with 23 wickets in just 6 matches. He claimed a seven-for in the semi-final clash against New Zealand to help India reach their fourth World Cup final.
Skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that it was tough for Shami to miss the initial World Cup matches.
“It was tough for him to not play in the initial part of the World Cup, looking at him being one of the senior bowlers for us. But he was there for the team. He was there to help (Mohammed) Siraj, he was there to help (Jasprit) Bumrah in whatever ways he could,” Rohit said in the press conference on the eve of World Cup final.
“And that shows the quality of him, you know, being the team-man that he is,” Rohit gushed about his lethal weapon.
Rohit said that the team management gave a clear message to Shami and said the performance he has put in showed what kind of mental space he has been in.
“We had a chat with him about why he missed out and everything. And then, obviously, on the sidelines, he was working on his bowling. I mean, the results are there for everyone to see how he has come back from that,” the skipper said.
“That shows the kind of mental space that Shami was before the World Cup and even now. It’s not easy not being part of the team and then come out and do the job that he has done for us, it says a lot about him.”
In a team sport, there is no space for personal likes and dislikes and no think-tank ever takes a decision without any proper logic, reckoned the Mumbaikar.
“When you’re playing a team sport, people do understand why x, y, z have to miss out on certain occasions, because there’s a lot that goes into getting your 11 right. That depends everything on your conditions, the opposition, and the balance that you want to create.
“It was just that and then once the opportunity opened up for him, he was right there. We all can see that with his performance,” he added.
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