After a while, India is facing South Africa in the ‘Boxing Day’ Test match. This is thrilling as players of both teams are trying hard to snatch the game on their way. In the first innings, Indian batters struggled a lot. KL Rahul scored a brilliant century. When South Africa came to bat, Indian bowlers were struggling a bit in front of them. Dean Elgar returned to the pavilion at the end of the day. After watching, India’s bowling performance, Dinesh Karthik said that Team India was missing Mohammad Shami.
Shami’s World Cup Brilliance and Injury Hit:
Before the South Africa series, the World Cup 2023 ended in November. India arranged the tournament after a long. In this tournament, India performed exceptionally well. They won all the matches in the group stage and semifinal stage. In every department, Team India was perfect. They dominated the opponents throughout the tournament. Mohammad Shami was one of their key players.
The 33-year-old pacer was an asset for the team in that tournament. He ended up as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament. After ending the World Cup, he was rested from the white ball format for the Australia and South Africa series. He was expecting to return in the longest format of the game against South Africa but an ankle injury sidelined him.
Dinesh Karthik on Shami:
On December 26, India and South Africa started playing the ‘Boxing Day’ Test. India got all out on 245 runs and South Africa is playing well in the first innings. Dean Elgar went unbeaten in 140 runs at the end of the day 2. South Africa ended day 2 on 256/5. Indian bowlers struggled a lot to pick up those five wickets.
Dinesh Karthik was remembering Mohammad Shami at that point. He said, “The man has grown in stature as a bowler and as a leader of the pack. He is an able lieutenant to Jasprit Bumrah. You can imagine with the upright seam on this kind of pitch. I promise you, he would have definitely gotten a few wickets. The Indian team really misses him.”
Indian pacer Prasidh Krishna made his Test debut against South Africa in that match. He picked up 1 wicket in this match before day 22 ended. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj picked up 2 wickets each. Shardul Thakur remained wicketless after giving 57 runs in 12 overs. At the start of day 3, they need to improve their game to stop South Africa with a short lead.
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