Mohammed Shami, the survivor: How his junoon overcomes injuries, accident, personal loss and vitriolic trolling

Alinagar (Sahaspur): “Lockdown mey meri dukaan pe hi din bhar rehte tey Shami bhai, meri dukaan khaano ke packet se bhari rhti thi. Wo din bhar apne badey bhai ke saath logo ko khaana khilate they. Ye silsila kareeb 3 hafte chala tha (During the lockdown, Mohammed Shami, along with his elder brother Hasib, used to spend the entire day at my shop).
“My shop was filled with food packets; it was for the migrants who were going back to their homes during the lockdown. It was his routine for three weeks,” says Anas, who runs a small cycle puncture repair shop in Sahaspur, Alinagar, when asked about the location of Indian speedster Mohammed Shami’s farmhouse.
Down a dusty lane framed sugarcane fields in Amroha’s Sahaspur Alinagar village is Shami’s newly-built farmhouse. It’s a village that falls in Amroha tehsil in Uttar Pradesh.
Mohammed Hasib, Shami’s elder brother at their farmhouse in Sahaspur, Alinagar. (Photo: Pratyush Raj)
Shami’s elder brother Mohammed Hasib’s trouser and t-shirt is stained as he had just finished watering the pitches, which the Mohammed brothers made in 2019.
The farmhouse came to the rescue of Shami and his younger brother Mohammed Kaif, who also represents Bengal in the domestic circuit, as they never missed practice during the lockdown.
The farmhouse of India pacer Mohammed Shami in Sahaspur. (Photo: Pratyush Raj)
“Even if he is home, he will only chill for a day maximum. He used to start itching to bowl and he would roam around here and there in search of nets. So I decided let’s make one at home only,” Hasib narrates while feeding Shami’s two pet dogs Don (German Shepherd) and Jack (Rottweiler).
“We dug a five-foot deep pit for 22 yards. We changed the soil, covered it and kept watering, and once it was covered with grass, we cut it and then it was ready for practice. It took us almost a year,” he says.
The pitch at the farmhouse, which the Mohammed brothers made in 2019. (Photo: Pratyush Raj)
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10 km from Shami’s farmhouse, his childhood coach Mohammed Badruddin, who runs a cricket academy in Moradabad, was busy with a U-14 cricket tournament. An 11-year-old Zaheer Khan, after finishing his over, came to the boundary line and asked the coach, “Sir wr position theek hai aaj? (Sir, how is my wr position today?)” He will get a thumbs-up from Badruddin.
“Everyone wants to become Mohammed Shami now. He has set a great example for all the youngsters here,” says Badruddin. Next over, Zaheer would ask for a slip and off the third ball of the over, he induced a poky edge to Gaurav at the first slip. Badruddin stands up to clap.
“After Shami, so many fast bowlers are coming from this region. Before Shami, when Piyush Chawla was playing, we used to see only spinners, says Badruddin.
Mohammed Shami’s childhood coach, Mohammed Badruddin. (Photo: Pratyush Raj)
“Mohsin Khan played in IPL, Wajid Ali played Ranji Trophy for UP last year, and Manan Khan is in the Under-19 camp. Shami has helped all of them in whatever possible way. If he finds some player is genuine and facing financial problems, he will go beyond to help. As a player, he is always there to share tips with the youngsters, be it his fitness routine or diet routine,” Badruddin says.
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Shami had the air of a man who has endured one too many swings of misfortune. The worst was when he was not picked for Uttar Pradesh Under-19 team.
“We were sitting at the Kanpur Railway station. He was in tears, sobbing and for the first time ever he said no to food. He bowled beautifully in the trials, and even I was stunned when he wasn’t picked. In other states, he would have been picked for the senior team, forget U-19. He was 16 or 17 back then, and was devastated,” recalls Badruddin.
Right then, Badruddin got a call from his friend Abdul Monam from Kolkata, who was looking for a fast bowler. “They wanted a mature fast bowler, and Shami was very young. I convinced them to at least give him a chance then if they consider he is not good enough, send him back.
“It was good for him that he went to Bengal. If he had played for UP, he might not have got the chance to play for India but going to Bengal changed his destiny. In Bengal, they hardly had any fast bowler; over the years, they had produced swing bowlers with the speed of 120-125 kmph. Shami was a jackpot for them and they treasured him like one of their own,” he adds.
Later, during his India career, injuries had forced him to the brink of retirement. During lockdown in an Instagram Live session with Rohit Sharma, Shami revealed that he had considered killing himself three times during a period of “severe stress and personal problems”. He was subjected to vicious trolling after India’s loss against Pakan in the last year’s T20 World Cup in Dubai last year but he has shrugged them all to return to his true love: fast bowling.
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Fast bowling was in the genes of Shami. His father, Tousif Ali, was a fast bowler, his elder brother Mohammed Hasib, a promising pacer, admits he never put those yards like his brother and that’s why he never made it.
“My father played in the village, I played till drict level, but Shami went on to play for India. Kaif has followed in his footsteps and is now playing for Bengal. For me, cricket was just a hob, but for Shami, it was passion,” says Hasib.
Tousif Ali, who first spotted a spark in his son, took 10-year-old Shami to coach Badruddin, who has just started his coaching career. Interestingly, Badruddin was not impressed with Shami’s build, his line and his length but one thing that caught his attention was his speed.
“Fast bowler mai hamesha dekhta hun ki isme kitni jaan hai (In fast bowlers, I always see the heart). When Shami’s father brought him to my academy, I asked him to bowl for 30 minutes. He was wayward, but he maintained the same speed throughout the 30 minutes. I realised the guy has got the stamina, and if I work on him, he might produce good results. I had one doubt about his height, but he has proven me wrong.
“He has proved that if you have passion, desire and hard work, nothing is going to stop you,” he says.
Shami’s habit of learning things quickly, what his coach believes, took him to the next level. “He is a quick learner. Suppose I used to point out if there are issues in his wr position or his shoulder is dropping. He will fix everything in one or two days,” recollects Badruddin.
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Before the T20 World Cup, Pakan Cricket Board shared a video where Shami can be seen sharing tips to Shaheen Shah Afridi at the sidelines of the nets. “Jabse maine bowling start ki hai tabse mai aapko follow kar raha hun, aapki na wr position ka jawab nahi hai (I am following you since I started bowling and I am a big fan of your wr position,” Shaheen had said to Shami.
Shami’s upright seam was the standout feature in his bowling, courtesy his wr position, which he has worked on for the past twenty years.
“His family members were irritated his obsession. Every day he will take one old ball home. His father once showed me the stain of red balls on the wall in front of his bed. He used to throw the ball and then will catch it just to perfect his wr position,” reminisces Badruddin. Na jaane kitni gendein kaharab kari isne. Now everyone talks about his seam, his wr position, but very few people know about the work he has put in to perfect it. I have seen so many bowlers with good wr positions, but it won’t be the same after a while. The reason they don’t work hard to perfect it,” he says.
Mohammed Badruddin with the trainees at his academy. (Photo: Pratyush Raj)
Over the years, the method changed, but Shami’s wr position remained intact.
“When he is home, either he will bowl at a single stump because no one wants to face him. Or, he will ask someone from the Under-14 age-group to bat, and he bowls with a run of four yards. The focus again will be on the wr position,” says Badruddin.
And with the wr position that is the envy of other pacers, it is no wonder that even in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy dominated spinners, Shami has done his part, picking up seven wickets so far.
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Having made his first-class debut in 2010, Shami is an old-school pacer who doesn’t believe in gym training and never shows aggression on the field.
“Nowadays, the pacers believe a lot in the gym but not Shami, who believes in training on the ground. As a coach I also tell young fast bowlers that the gym can only give shape to your body, but it’s the ground that will give you the stamina,” says Badruddin.
Hasib shares an exciting training routine with his brother before the IPL 2022.
“He ploughed the field with a tractor, and when feet used to sink one feet under, he used to run,” says Hasib.Badruddin explains why Shami’s desi method of training is so effective: “That run strengthens your legs. Mohsin also trained with Shami before the IPL, and he told me later sir I can feel the difference in my run-up. That’s the amount of hard work Shami puts in. A fast bowler should never spend more time in the gym.”
Since his childhood, Shami has been a very shy kid. During the early days, both Hasib and Badruddin used to taunt him ‘tu fast bowler nahi lagta (you don’t look like a fast bowler)’ because of his lack of aggression.”
“Aggression was never his forte, and he was a very shy kid. I had told him so many times that you are a fast bowler: show some aggression. You don’t even celebrate after taking a wicket!” says Badruddin.
“Now you can see there is a bit of aggression in him that is purely because of his teammates,” says Badruddin.
Shami has seen several ups and downs in life and cricket. But the ‘junoon’ to prove himself has kept him going.