How Mohammed Shami Took The Mantle Of India's Bowling Superstar In World Cup

As Mohammed Shami walked back to the top of his run-up, Virat Kohli geed the fans at the Wankhede Stadium to go full throat with their chants – Shaamii! Shaamii! They obliged merrily. It was a visible validation of Shami's status in this World Cup – India's superstar with the ball, the bowling equivalent of Kohli with the bat. It wasn't just because of his immaculate effort against New Zealand on Wednesday night, but now Shami is a single man force de frappe, even ahead of Jasprit Bumrah.

His numbers do back that position. Shami has taken 23 wickets from six matches, including three fifers, at a mind-boggling strike-rate of 10.9, easily the best in this tournament on those two counts.

But then the numbers don't tell the whole story either.

Shami was not even part of the playing 11 in the first four matches because of India's desire to field a batting all-rounder at No. 8, an additional security measure to counter any top-order dysfunction.

In line with that thought, R Ashwin was included in the match against Australia, while Shardul Thakur played against Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

It required a force majeure – Hardik Pandya's injury against Bangladesh – for the Indian management to shake away their obsession.

They needed to find a batsman and bowler in place of absent all-rounder Pandya for the match against New Zealand at Dharamsala.

Shami came to the picture then and made an instant impression against the Kiwis with a five-wicket haul.

It was also a huge credit to Shami's mindset to come back from a frustrating time at the sidelines and perform against top-class opposition.

India's batting coach Vikram Rathour said as much.

"Shami is a special bowler, and he is bowling really well. It was tough to get him