Birthday Special: 3 records held by Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami, a veteran bowler for Team India, turned 32 on Saturday, September 3. Born in Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, the fast bowler represents Bengal in domestic cricket and made his international debut back in 2013.
A world-class pacer with the ability to seam and swing the ball both ways, Shami has seen success in all three formats for India. He has so far represented India in 60 Tests, 82 ODIs, and 17 T20Is.
While the right-arm pacer has claimed 216 wickets in Test matches at an average of 27.45, his 152 ODI wickets have come at 25.72. In T20Is, he has picked up 18 wickets at an average of 31.55.
Shami has been a vital cog in the Indian bowling department, especially in overseas conditions. He has achieved success both in the swing-friendly conditions of England as well as the bouncy pitches of Australia.
However, what has been most impressive is his ability to get wickets on Indian pitches which offer no assistance to pacers. In fact, he picked up nine wickets in his debut Test, including a fifer in the second innings, against West Indies at Kolkata in November 2013.
While the speedster isn't part of the Indian squad for the ongoing Asia Cup 2022, he is expected to stake his claim for a place in the T20 World Cup side in the upcoming series against Australia and South Africa.
On the occasion of Shami's 32nd birthday, let's take a look at three records the Indian pacer holds. While they don't tell the whole story of his brilliance as a pacer, they do shed some light on his ability.
#1 Mohammed Shami is the only Indian bowler to take three consecutive four-fers in ODIs
Mohammed Shami had a terrific ICC World Cup 2019 campaign where he ended up as India's second-highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in just four matches.
While Shami had to wait for his chances in the tournament, he made the most of his opportunities and proved to be a major threat for the opposition.
In his first match against Afghanistan, Shami recorded a hat-trick in the 50th over to seal a close win for India and ended the game with figures of 4/40. He followed it up with another magnificent display, taking four scalps against the West Indies.
Mohammad Shami becomes the fastest Indian to take 150 ODI wickets 🙌🇮🇳
#IndianCricketTeam #mohammadshami #ENGvIND #CricketTwitter https://t.co/P7ESYnYLpo
After taking two consecutive four-wicket hauls, Shami bagged his first fifer in a World Cup when he took 5/69 against England. He thus became the first Indian bowler to take four or more wickets in three consecutive matches.
#2 Fastest Indian bowler to take 100 and 150 ODI wickets
ODI wickets 
Birthday boy Mohammed Shami is the fastest Indian to take 💯 ODI wickets 🔥🇮🇳
#MohammedShami #JaspritBumrah #YuzvendraChahal #CricketTwitter #India #TeamIndia https://t.co/iPtUmKmq8Y
A genuine wicket-taker, Mohammed Shami holds the record of reaching the 100 and 150 ODI wicket-mark for India in fewest matches. The Bengal pacer took his 100th ODI scalp in his 56th game, against New Zealand, in Napier in 2019.
The Indian record was previously held by Irfan Pathan, who got there in his 59th match, against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2006.
After becoming the fastest to 100 ODI scalps, Shami continued his merry run with the ball and picked up his next 50 dismissals in just 24 matches. It made him the fastest Indian to reach 150 ODI wickets. Shami achieved this feat during an ODI against England in London in July this year.
The seamer broke the record of former pacer Ajit Agarkar, who had completed 150 ODI wickets in 97 matches. Among all international bowlers, Shami is the third joint-fastest to reach 150 ODI wickets.
#1 Mohammed Shami is only the second Indian to take a hat-trick at a 50-over World Cup
As mentioned earlier, Mohammed Shami recorded a hat-trick in a group stage game against Afghanistan at the ICC World Cup 2019 in Southampton.
Shami's last-over hat-trick proved to be a match-winning one for India as the game went down to the wire before the right-armer ran through Afghanistan's lower-order.
The Afghans were in with a chance to secure an upset win over the Indians, requiring 12 runs off the last four balls. However, Shami delivered the goods in the last over and gave India a 11-run victory.
On This Day in 2019, Mohammad Shami picked up a hat-trick in the last over of the World Cup match as India beat Afghanistan by 11 runs 🇮🇳🏏
He became the fourth Indian bowler to pick up an ODI hat-trick 🙌
#MohammedShami #India #Teamindia #Onthisday #CricketTwitter https://t.co/7luyjWL2CH
After bowling a dot on the second ball, Mohammed Shami got rid of Mohammad Nabi, the set batsman who was key to his team's chances of winning. The former Afghanistan captain hit one straight down the throat of Hardik Pandya.
Thereafter, Shami nailed two deadly yorkers and cleaned up Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman to finish the match.
With his thrilling bowling exploits, Shami became only the second Indian, after Chetan Chauhan, to record a hat-trick at a 50-over World Cup. Shami joined Saqlain Mushtaq, Chaminda Vaas, Brett Lee, Lasith Malinga, Kemar Roach, Steven Finn, and JP Duminy in the list of bowlers with hat-tricks in the World Cup.