Every great fast bowler has a skill that keeps the batsmen guessing. Tim Southee has a three-quarter seam. Trent Boult can turn the ball into the pads. Neil Wagner's got rockets slinging high on your ribs and head all day. Jasprit Bumrah can give nightmares with that dangerous walking-up. Ishant Sharma will build the pressure with his long length and ability to swing the ball both ways.
But none of these fast men does what Mohammed Shami can do: with a straight seam ball after ball. Like a magician, Shami can mesmerize you with his seam position. Control over the position of the seam allows him to control the batsman who is never quite sure which side and how far it will move. The beauty and power of this skill is a gift, the batsman can read Shami's hand and still be defeated.
That's how Shami started today. Ross Taylor was attentive during the first spell of Bumrah and Sharma. Although he was getting into an awkward position as his head was falling, he was getting away with short lengths by the two Indian strike bowlers.
However, Taylor was quickly jolted by Shami's first two deliveries: both pitched at a length and angled into the batsman who was ready to play but was surprised by the excessive far movement on pitching at the seam. Shami pitches it fuller on the next ball and Taylor leans on a cover drive for four. Shami will not mind this. His next two overs would be maidens before he took a pit stop to convert ends.
Shami once again pitches fuller off the first ball from the other end, tempting Taylor to take the bait. New Zealand's senior-most batsman did just that, punching a windy drive to the right of mid-off, where an agile Shubman Gill threw himself to his right to take a low catch. Shami burst into tears as it was New Zealand's first wicket to fall after a quiet first hour of the morning.
In the next over Shami went around the wicket and dug into a quick short delivery that caught new man Henry Nicholls in two minds as he tried to stop it with both feet in the air and was lucky enough to have the ball brushing to his left. was. Rishabh Pant shoulder to shoulder.
On Sunday too, Shami shook New Zealand's top order with energetic chants, where slips and gullies flew off the side of the bat at the cordon. But his height was not enough like the other two of his compatriots. According to ESPNcricinfo's data log, Shami had bowled only four full deliveries off 32 balls along with 30 balls at short-of-a-good-length. Today, Shami completed 15 deliveries and though he went for 15, he took two wickets from him. He also bowled 37 balls in length, conceding 16 runs and taking a wicket.
That adjustment helped Shami force the batsmen to play almost every ball. He bowled 65 balls to New Zealand's top seven batsmen, leaving only 15. Shami has always said that his role is to attack and his way of working has been to hit the right lines and lengths. The wicket never bothered him as much as hitting the right spot.
If the batsman is not careful, as BJ Watling found on the verge of lunch, Shami can easily pierce your defence. Watling barely moved his front leg and was stuck at the crease, even as the ball began to shape up, but at the last minute the distant seamer left the stumps flailing and the Indian players and fans roared. Gone.
Even Williamson, who was unmatched in spotting the ball and in his defence, got caught in Shami's plan when the ball pitched over the seam and went off subtly. The New Zealand captain survived, courtesy of the umpire's call as the review showed the ball kissing outside off-stump.
But this is how he got the wicket of Kyle Jamieson which proved Shami's mind-presence. Jamieson was happy to play in T20 mode and took 10 runs from Sharma's over and hit Shami for a four and a six. Till then none of India's fast bowlers had challenged 6'8" Jamieson with a short ball. One reason was long spells from the morning, the fast bowlers were tired. But Shami still needed to dig two bouncers. Power came, the second of which Jamieson tops off in the hands of Bumrah at deep square leg.
The last time Shami bowled was in a Test in England in the final Test of the 2018 tour, where he repeatedly beat the lead but kept wickets in the first innings and took two wickets in the second. Today, Shami once again fell short of taking his maiden five-wicket haul in England. But he didn't disappoint just because he used his two Ps: planning and perseverance to get India back in the match.
The Indian dressing room calls Shami as Lala. Lala is a term used affectionately in the subcontinent to describe an older brother. At 30, Shami is not the oldest in the Indian camp but has earned him the nickname from his experience.
Lala excites you as she gallops with that sweet, energetic, purposeful stride. Lala gets a wicket off almost every ball - at least that's what he assures you as he raises both his hands behind his head in the air on his follow-through. Lala bowls with that beautiful straight seam using which he can create some magic. As he did this cold Tuesday when he dismissed the New Zealand batsmen.