CHENNAI: Just as artificial light was beginning to take over from natural light at the Niranjan Shah Stadium at Rajkot on Tuesday, the familiar but slightly forgotten sight of Mohammed Shami steaming in with a white ball next to the main pitch played itself out. Since that fateful evening against Australia in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023, all cricketing stakeholders — the paying public, commentators, broadcasters, the board and the players — have yearned for him. It's definitely not been a case of out of sight, out of mind. If anything, it's been a case of absence making the heart grow fonder.
It's easy to why the speedster, at 34 very much in the December second week of his career, has this sort of reputation. Even if he doesn't make things happen, the mere possibility of having a Shami in the XI is akin to that of a solid fixed deposit in the bank during a bear run. He's a totally bankable bowler; not only safe as houses but also capable of conjuring magic. With Jasprit Bumrah in the set-up, India's ceiling is already high. But when both of them operate in tandem, the floor and the ceiling raise. It's why the 2023 World Cup, despite the unhappy ending, is a happy memory for the scores of fans who followed the hosts' sojourn either in the stands or via TV. In a country where there is a cult around batters and column inches dedicated to the cricketers who score runs, Shami was instrumental in making bowling look cool.
It's a similar story in red-ball cricket. Remember Virat Kohli's emotionally-charged 'they should feel hell?' line from the 2021 Test against England? Or the countless times when India won a match they had no right to or when India won a series home or away? Shami has been ever present, like a homing beacon.
Then, cruelly, the light left the building. With it, India's imposing records began to fade away. Home Tests were squandered. The BGT was surrendered. Sure, they did a win T20 World Cup in his absence but sentences beginning with 'If Shami was there, this...' had become de rigueur.
At 7.00 PM on Tuesday, he took his first steps — literally — in his second innings of his as he opened the bowling for the hosts in the third T20I against England. The seam position was there, the ball hooping away after pitching. When his work for the night was done, he had given away none for 25 in three overs. Nothing flash, nothing bad. Just another pit stop towards getting back to elite cricket after 14 months and change of picking injury, rehab, comeback, setback on an endless loop.
There's no word yet on how his body has recovered post the three overs but the rest staying constant, expect Shami to feature in one of the next two games (Pune or Mumbai). It's all part of increasing his competitive workload and building his match fitness leading to the Champions Trophy next month.
That's what it all boils to, right now. Forget the series in England in June-July. Forget the home winter later this year. For India, it's needs must and there's an urgent need to get Shami back up to speed when the team lands in Dubai in a fortnight or so. With question marks over Bumrah's fitness and Mohammed Siraj sent to the naughty step after a middling couple of series, a fit and ready Shami will solve a couple of problems in one go.
Tuesday night, in that context, was the first step in the process. The audition will continue in other Indian towns including Nagpur, Cuttack and Ahmedabad in the ODI series where he will be bowling greater loads and spending more time on the field. Ace some of those tests and he will be as good as new, like the locks on his head.