‘Wondered when I’d be able to put my feet on ground again’

At some point during his long rehabilitation, Mohammed Shami genuinely feared that the 2023 World Cup final was his last outing. In recent times, Indian cricket has seen the incredible comeback story of Jasprit Bumrah, who underwent a career-threatening back injury. With Shami, the story was no different. Unlike his pace-bowling partner in crime, even a casual walk was out of bounds for the 34-year-old, who on Thursday became India’s most successful bowler in ICC tournaments with 60 wickets in 19 matches.“I always wondered when I would be able to put my feet on the ground again, as someone who is used to running on the field constantly was now in crutches,” Shami told ICC about his recovery. “A lot of thoughts used to run through my mind. Will I be able to do it again? Will I be able to walk without a limp? For the first two months, I often doubted whether I would be able to play again as an injury like this followed a 14-month break can pull you down.”
For more than two months after surgery, Shami’s right foot didn’t touch any surface. For someone who loved running on his farm land to strengthen his muscles, he would spend the entire period on crutches, minimising his movements. Some of those evenings would be spent watching IPL on television. At other times, he would just sit idle, counting down the number of days.
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“My first question to the doctor was ‘how many days until I can be back on the field’. He said, ‘my priority is to get you to walk, then jog, then run. Thinking about playing competitive cricket is still a dant goal. After 60 days, when they asked me to put my feet on the ground, I have never been more scared to do so. I felt like a toddler learning to walk, and was worried about any complications.”
Soon after the IPL, Shami would resume the long road to recovery. “Cliched as it may sound, but it was a step–step process literally,” says a source in the know. “First he had to walk steadily without any pain because his Achilles tendon had been operated upon and he wasn’t able to take a lot of load. Once that phase went smoothly, he resumed jogging and then moved on to running. Even with running, he had to increase his pace gradually rather than going full throttle from the start. As he said, it was like a toddler learning the process.”
Back then, it seemed as if Shami’s recovery was on the right track with everyone involved in his rehab looking at the home series against New Zealand for his comeback. But since his body was taking a sudden increased workload, the pacer would suffer from a swollen ankle.
“It wasn’t a new injury. During the recovery process, these things happen. At that time, the most important thing was not to let his confidence get down. We could see how much he was missing cricket, so we would advise him not to watch and instead just stick to the rehab process,” the source says.
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Long haul
What followed was a gruelling period when Shami would spend as many as eight hours at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) facility everyday with BCCI’s medical team head Nitin Patel keeping a close tab. He would shed a few kilos, pick up pace in his running, start bowling at the nets and even get back to the domestic fold.
For more than two months after surgery, Shami’s right foot didn’t touch any surface. (PHOTOS: Instagram/Mohammed Shami)
However, one aspect was still missing, according to someone in the team management.
“Shami is a rhythm bowler. From his run-up to load-up and follow-through, everything is rhythmic. Even if one of the elements is not in place, he wouldn’t be at his best. One of the reasons why his comeback took longer than expected was that he had to find that rhythm back. And he was going to get it only if he bowled a lot of overs,” the source said.
It is one of the reasons why India decided not to carry him to Australia even though they were clearly short on options when it came to fast bowling. It is what even prompted skipper Rohit Sharma to say that they were not looking at Shami until he was fully ready.Story continues below this ad
“The last thing we wanted for him was being hit around batsmen as it would dent his confidence massively. Since he didn’t have the rhythm, we could see him struggle even in domestic cricket. It was hurting him as well, but he quickly got the message that he wasn’t going to get the rhythm overnight,” the source adds.
After playing Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy, the selectors would put him in India’s T20 mix just to ease his comeback.
“I’d completed 14 months of recovery and one has to be loyal to that process. You should have the hunger to achieve your goal, to get back the form you were in, and to get back your rhythm. If you have that hunger, you will be able to achieve it again,” Shami said.
On Thursday, he certainly did. Although he was still far from his best with regard to his rhythm, with his five-wicket haul against Bangladesh at the ICC Champions Trophy, Shami showed he isn’t far off.