England all-rounder Ben Stokes heaped praise on India speedster Mohammed Shami and called him the bowler of the tournament.
Shami made his place in India’s playing XI just three games ago against New Zealand and announced his arrival with a five-wicket haul on Dharamshala’s tricky surface. He continued to ride on his hot form in the next two games against the defending champions, England and Sri Lanka. In just three games, Shami has claimed 14 wickets in the ongoing tournament and has the best bowling figure as well as the best bowling average.
With a figure of 5-18, Shami, with 45 wickets, became India’s most successful bowler in the World Cup as he surpassed iconic pacer Zaheer Khan. Ahead of England’s clash against Australia in the World Cup, Stokes was quizzed about Shami’s sensational spell against Sri Lanka, and he showered praise on the pacer.
“I’ve played a lot of cricket against Shami; he’s a fantastic bowler, and I think we watched him last night, and they brought a stat up that in a World Cup is quite phenomenal, actually. He’s obviously been the bowler of the World Cup, I think. I don’t think he’s played every game, but the way in which he’s played in every situation and every game he’s come in, it’s been incredible the amount of wickets he’s taken. He’s just found a way to be able to get wickets,” Stokes said. Out of the 14 wickets that the experienced speedster has claimed, four of them came against England, and Stokes was also one of his victims. Shami produced arguably the best spell of the tournament to dismiss the left-handed batter and give India an edge in the clash. The left-handed all-rounder talked about Shami’s terrific performance against England and said, “Obviously, that spell against us was one of many he’s had this World Cup. Sometimes you just say to the opposition that you’re very good, and Mohamed Shami’s been very good throughout this whole World Cup.”
