CHENNAI: Before a knee injury sidelined him during India's long season at home early this year, Mohammed Shami was Virat Kohli's go-to bowler in the longer format. Having pace as well as the ability to get the ball to move both ways, Shami excelled in conditions were spinners called the shots.
It's always difficult to make a comeback from a knee-injury, especially for a fast bowler. His last Test outing was against England in Mohali back in November. He played in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal and was a part of the Champions Trophy squad as well as the touring party to the West Indies, where he played a solitary game. But with the Indian team having a well-knit pace combination, he was struggling to get a look-in.
“It's always difficult to make a comeback from injury for a pacer. Shami has been one of the brightest pacers to emerge and has been a regular part of the Test team. A bit of loss in pace is natural for a pacer after injury. I'm sure he will learn how to manage his workload better. Injuries usually make a speedster more mature,” former India all-rounder Madan Lal told Express.
Despite being solidly equipped with two world-class spinners, India have relied on their pace battery with the new and old ball. With Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar around, Shami's absence didn't hurt the squad, which is encouraging, as the Bengal pacer has had the ability to find key breakthroughs. However, a bowler like Shami is of paramount importance especially on flat decks as thanks to his ability to pitch the ball up, he makes the batsmen play more often than not.
“We have quality pacers which is really good for the team. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma are there as well. Umesh has express pace but needs to control his line and length. He lacks a bit of consistency which is not the problem for Shami. If he manages to rediscover his pre-injury form, then India can go on the attack even outside the subcontinent,” Lal added.
The second day's play followed the same narrative as the opening day, with India dominating Sri Lanka. While the batsmen grabbed the headlines on Day 1, the bowlers joined the party on Thursday as at stumps, the hosts were struggling at 154 for 5. Shami's long-awaited return to the Test fold saw the pacer grab two wickets as India tightened their grip over the first Test. He even scored 30 runs, stitching together 62 runs for the 8th wicket, breaking the Lankan resolve.
First Shami accounted for Danushka Gunathilaka (16) in the 15th over and then four balls later, he sent back Kusal Mendis (0), with both batsmen caught at first slip by Shikhar Dhawan.
.jpg?w=640&auto=format%2Ccompress)
“I think our bowlers, especially Umesh (Yadav) and Shami bowled better lines and lengths (than Sri Lankan bowlers) and I think tomorrow onwards, we'll see a little more turn on this wicket. The pitch is drying up, so there will be more assistance tomorrow onwards,” Cheteshwar Pujara said at the end of day's play.
With the hosts needing 401 to avoid follow-on, India will be targetting not to come out to bat again. With the kind of form the Lankans are in and the pitch set to assist spinners tomorrow onwards, it looks like an uphill task.
“India should go all out tomorrow. The spinners will come into play and Shami is devastating with his reverse swing. Sri Lanka are ripe for the taking and a win in the opener will give the team some much-needed confidence heading into the rest of the series,” Lal opined.