A Look At Mohammed Shami's Numbers Against Left-Hand Batters In World Cup 2023

Star India pacer Mohammed Shami is on a roll during the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup at home. Despite missing the first half of the league stage matches, Shami has played a vital role in his team's journey towards the final. In the semifinal against New Zealand, Shami took 7/57 in 9.5 overs at an economy rate of 5.79. This is India's best bowling spell in ICC Cricket World Cup history, overtaking Ashish Nehra's 6/23 against England in 2003.

Shami's figures are also the fifth-best in World Cup history, with Australia's Glenn McGrath's 7/15 against Namibia in 2003 being the best.

A key aspect of Shami's domination is how brilliant he has been against left-arm batters.

Though Shami has been a batter's nightmare, it is the left-arm batters he has thrived against. In his WC run this year, Shami has bowled 52 deliveries to left-arm batters. He has conceded just 32 runs against them.

Shami's eight out of his 23 wickets in the tournament have been left-handers. The bowler has claimed wickets of Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner and Devon Conway of New Zealand, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali of England, Charith Asalanka of Sri Lanka among the left-handed batters.

In six WC 2023 games, Shami has taken 23 wickets at an average of 9.13 and a strike rate of 10.91. His best figures are 7/57. He is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament so far.

The pace veteran also completed 50 World Cup wickets, becoming only the seventh bowler to do so. Shami is also the fastest to get there, reaching the milestone in just 17 innings, surpassing Mitchell Starc's (Australia) record of 19 innings.

The highest wicket-taker in WC history is Australia's Glenn McGrath with 71 wickets in 39 matches in his World Cup career.

Shami now has four five-wicket