World Cup 2019: Mohammed Shami reveals what MS Dhoni advised him before his hat-trick ball
What's the story?
Hat-trick ball hero Mohammed Shami has revealed that Mahendra Singh Dhoni advised him to bowl a yorker for his hat-trick delivery.
In case you didn't know..
Shami became the second Indian to get a hat-trick in World Cup history after Chetan Sharma as he ended Afghanistan's innings at just 213 in the final over the game.
India maintained their unbeaten record in the World Cup 2019 and they are now at the third place with 9 points. On the other hand, Afghanistan stay at the bottom of the table, losing all six of their matches so far in the tournament.
Electing to bat first, Indian batsmen struggled to deal with the slow pitch and the superb efforts of Afghanistan bowlers restricted the Men in Blue to 224 in 50 overs. Afghanistan went about their chase with extreme focus but superb spells from Bumrah and Mohammed Shami led India's sensational comeback in the second innings.
Afghanistan needed 16 from the last over to win the game but Shami's superb bowling rendered them helpless. Despite conceding four from the first delivery in the 49th over, Shami came back superbly to help Men in Blue win the match by 11 runs.
The heart of the matter
With figures of 4 for 40, Shami was obviously happy with the hat-trick and he revealed what former captain Dhoni advised him before his hat-trick delivery in the final over.
Speaking after the match, Shami said:
"The plan was simple. To bowl a yorker and even Mahi bhai suggested that. He said, 'Don't change anything now as you have a great chance of getting a hat-trick. It's a rare opportunity and you need to do the same thing. So I did what exactly I was told."
"There was no time to think. You have to back your own skills as you don't have much options. If you try more variations, chances of going for runs is more. My thought was to execute my plan rather than trying to read batsman's minds."
What's next?
India will face West Indies in their next fixture before taking on hosts England next Sunday.
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