Cricket World Cup: ‘Grateful that I never chased my childhood dream’: Tabraiz Shamsi on his obsession with pace bowling | Cricket-world-cup News

Growing up in Johannesburg, Tabraiz Shamsi wanted to be a left-arm pacer for South Africa, idolising Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas. But now he is relieved to have given up on his childhood dream, and became a spinner.“If I was still trying to achieve my dream of becoming a fast bowler, I would never have been an international cricketer,” Shamsi tells The Indian Express on the eve of South Africa’s first World Cup match against Sri Lanka.
“In South Africa, there is a culture of pace bowling. I have grown up watching the likes of Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, all of those guys. Naturally, when you see those guys dominating batsmen around the world, you want to be one of them. We haven’t had many left-arm fast bowlers, I wanted to become one. So, I used to try and learn from Wasim Akram and Chaminda Vaas, those were the two premier left-arm fast bowlers at that time. I used to try and copy their bowling actions as well.
“My run-up is quite long for a spinner because I wanted to be a medium pacer,” he adds.

Shamsi brings his bag of magic tricks with his wr-spin, wicket celebrations and infectious energy on the ground. However, this time he has not planned any special celebration. “Nothing specifically planned. Just going to see how the game goes and whatever celebration comes out in that moment.”

Former Proteas analyst Prasanna Agoram, given the moniker of P Dawgg South African cricketers, had told this newspaper about Shamsi’s obsession to perfect his technique. “I’d never point out that he’s missing his length or the back foot was collapsing at 12.30 in the night. Because Shamo, you see, would then take me to the nets at 1 am!”
Shamsi bursts into laughter.
“Definitely, that’s how I am. I like to make sure I don’t leave any doubts to myself before I go into any game.
Tabraiz Shamsi during the World Cup match between England and South Africa in Sharjah. (AP Photo)
“I don’t end my training session until I get satisfied with my bowling.”
On Wednesday and Thursday, Shamsi bowled in tandem with Keshav Maharaj for two hours, with bowling coach Eric Simons on wicketkeeping duty.
“Keshav and I, we like to work on our bowling before every match and prepare our plans for different batsmen. We just try different things to see what works and what doesn’t. When you are trying something new and because we are so competitive, we want to get things right immediately. But that’s not how things work. Just getting in the groove – that’s what the practice session is about,” the wr-spinner said.
“Both of us like to bowl a lot. When you remove the batsman from the equation, bowling to the stumps, you can always see the rhythm, hit your areas. Once that is done, it is more analysing and the mental game.”
In the scorecard, the decision still stands as Nawaz lbw b Shamsie. (AP)
Shamsi also made Delhi leg-spinner Vaibhav Sharma’s day picking his brain about his googlies since he was troubling most of the South African batsmen.
“I always like to talk to the other leg-spinners. I went to Vaibhav after the session, and asked him about his grip when he bowls his googlies. How he is releasing the ball, I believe in learning from other people,” says the 33-year-old.
A special breed
Shamsi said leg-spinners are emotional and need backing from their captains and coaches, and an arm around their shoulders when chips are down.
“You can think about many legendary cricketers of the past, who have gone through a slump of form at some point. That’s nothing new. If Kuldeep was going through a rough time, or I was, that’s part of the game.
“It is all about being strong mentally but you need a good support structure within the team, from your captain and coach, which should give you the backing when you are going through a rough phase, knowing that this guy is a match- winner and has won you a number of games. And especially leg-spinners, we are emotional because we are arts. Leg- spin is a difficult art,” he laughs.
South Africa’s bowler Tabraiz Shamsi, left, jumps as he attempts a catch off his own bowling while Australia’s batsman Matt Wade makes a run during the 1st T20 cricket match between South Africa and the Australia at Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Shamsi also spoke about the role Imran Tahir has played in his career and why him being in the side gives him comfort despite the fact that they were battling for one spot.
“He was a massive influence. You need somebody who understands you and your bowling. Immy was a great leg- spinner, he has just won the Caribbean Premier League.
“When I came into the team, Immy was the premier spinner. I have learnt so much from him about bowling. It has helped me a lot over the years. We became very close. Even though we were direct competitors, we never looked at it that way.Most Read
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“Even though I am a lot younger, he will still ask me what I am seeing in his bowling and how I can help him. That’s a brilliant relationship I have forged and he has had a big influence in speeding up my journey of being a leg-spinner,” he says.
On his comparison with fellow chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, Shamsi says they are completely different bowlers.
“Our bowling is different; our bodies are different. So in that sense, Kuldeep has found his way of getting success and I have found my way. Even though we both are bowling the same thing, our run-ups are different, the speed at which we bowl are different, and the way we use our variations are different. If you take fast bowlers, there are so many right-arm fast bowlers but everyone is different. I think that’s pretty much the case with me and Kuldeep as well. We both have our own strengths and weaknesses,” he explains.