On Wednesday, January 22, India will begin their five-match T20I series against England at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. The white-ball team will be the focus of much attention because they are predicted to do better than India’s team in the longest format.
Mohammed Shami, a right-arm speedster, would also receive a lot of attention. After more than a year, he is now ready to return to international cricket. Soon later, the 2023 Cricket World Cup’s top wicket-taker suffered a knee injury. Shami’s complete rehabilitation procedure consumed about a year of her time. In the domestic circuit, he recently earned crucial playing time for Bengal.
Mohammed Shami has a huge chance to make a spectacular return in the series opener.
In terms of international cricket, he has a chance to become just the fourth Indian bowler to reach the 450-wicket club across all formats. Prior to the match in Kolkata, he faces three pace bowlers: Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, and Kapil Dev.
Below is the list of Indian bowlers with the most dismissals in international cricket:
| Player | Matches | Wickets |
| Anil Kumble | 401 | 953 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 287 | 765 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 365 | 707 |
| Kapil Dev | 356 | 687 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 351 | 597 |
| Zaheer Khan | 351 | 597 |
| Javagal Srinath | 296 | 551 |
| Mohammed Shami | 188 | 448 |
In a social media video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Shami talked about the difficult moments he had to go through while not playing for his country.
“It is challenging for any athlete to sustain an injury while playing at their best, get rehabilitated at the NCA, and then return.” In my opinion, injuries make you a stronger athlete since they force you to practise a lot of skills while maintaining mental toughness. Any action taken is taken. That stage is behind me now. The outcome is yours if you put in the effort. “I think so,” Shami remarked.
If we look at Shami’s figures by format, he has taken 229, 195, and 24 wickets in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, respectively.
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