ENG vs IND 2021: Three milestones Mohammad Shami can reach in this series
30-year old pace sensation Mohammad Shami has been a regular member of the Indian Test set-up ever since his Test debut in 2013. He has taken 184 wickets in 51 Tests at an average of 27.57 with a strike rate of 50.10. Ever since he made his Test debut, he has been the highest wicket-taker for India in this format.
#1 Mohammad Shami could become the second fastest Indian pacer to take 200 Test wickets
Shami will be the 11th Indian bowler and fifth Indian pacer when he takes his 200th Test wicket. He only needs 16 wickets to get to that milestone and judging by his current form, it should be a cake walk for him.
If he can take those 16 wickets in the first two Tests, he will be the second fastest Indian pacer to reach that milestone. If he takes three Tests to achieve that, he will be the joint second fastest Indian pacer.
Former Indian skipper Kapil Dev took 50 Tests to get 200 wickets whereas Karnataka speedster Javagal Srinath took 54 Tests to reach there.
Interestingly, Mohammad Shami was the third fastest Indian pacer to take 100 wickets. He did it in 29 Tests, whereas Kapil Dev and Irfan Pathan did it in 25 and 28 Tests respectively
#2 Mohammad Shami can become the third Indian pacer to take 50 Test wickets against England
Before the start of the series, Mohammad Shami had taken 31 wickets in 11 games at an average of 40.00 against England. If he manages to take 19 wickets in this 5-game series, he will become the third Indian pacer to take 50 wickets against England in Tests.
The only other bowlers who have achieved this in the past are - Kapil Dev, who has 85 wickets in 27 games and Ishant Sharma with 62 wickets in 21 games. If Shami manages 19 wickets in this series, this will be the first time he takes 50 wickets against a particular opposition in Test cricket.
#3 Mohammad Shami can become India’s highest six hitter for a tail-ender in Test cricket
In the 52 games he has played, he has hit 20 sixes with a maximum of 3 sixes twice in an innings. His feats came once against Sri Lanka in Galle and the other time was against England in Visakhapatnam. Currently, only Zaheer Khan has hit 28 sixes while batting at number 9, 10 and 11 positions, and Shami needs 9 more maximums to overtake him.
Among the Indian players with a minimum of 15 sixes in Test cricket, Mohammad Shami has the best balls per sixes count. He has hit 20 sixes in 663 deliveries, which means he’s hit a six every 33.15 deliveries.
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