New Delhi: India’s Champions Trophy match against Pakistan took a worrying turn early in the game Sunday when lead pacer Mohammed Shami walked off the field with an injury scare.
In 2023, Shami had injured his ankle during the ICC World Cup and was out of the national side for about a year. He recently told ICC in a media interaction that there were times when he thought his international career was over.
On Sunday, Shami walked off the field after holding his shin and appearing to be in discomfort, but soon returned to bowl. Before the injury scare, Shami had a forgettable first spell, setting a joint record with Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan for bowling the most number of deliveries by an Indian in an ODI over.
Opening the bowling after India lost the toss, the 34-year-old bowled 11 deliveries in the first over, with five wide balls.
Shami’s over was also the second-longest ever by a player of any country in the Champions Trophy. Bangladesh’s Hassibul Hossain and Zimbabwe’s Tinashe Panyangara hold the joint record for the most deliveries, with 13 balls each.
Shami also surpassed Jasprit Bumrah’s nine-ball over, which also came in a game with Pakistan at the Oval in 2017.
Injury scare
In his third over at Sunday’s game, Shami suffered an injury scare as he walked off the field, appearing to be in discomfort and requiring the team physio’s attention.
After Shami walked off the field, captain Rohit Sharma introduced Hardik Pandya into the bowling attack, a move that proved to be successful for India. Pandya dismissed Babar Azam by dragging the length back slightly and keeping the ball outside the off stump line. Azam edged the ball into wicketkeeper KL Rahul’s gloves, getting dismissed after scoring 23 runs.
A few minutes later, Shami emerged onto the field to bowl his second spell. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was nursing an injury.
Shami was India’s standout bowler in the opening Champions Trophy match against Bangladesh, claiming five wickets to help his side secure a win. The pacer returned to the Indian lineup during the England T20I series after a lengthy injury layoff.
He underwent surgery after the 2023 ODI World Cup and returned to the field late in 2024.
Earlier, Pakistan opted to bat first on a slow pitch after winning the toss as they included Imam-ul-Haq in their playing XI in place of injured Fakhar Zaman, who has now been ruled out of the Champions Trophy.
India and Pakistan are playing at a neutral venue in Dubai after the Indian management decided against travelling to Pakistan for the tournament, citing security risks.
India have decided to go with the same XI that defeated Bangladesh.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
Pakistan (Playing XI): Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel,
Mohammad Rizwan (w/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah,
Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
(Edited by Nisheeth Upadhyay)
Also Read: Even before India-Pakistan Champions Trophy match began, Rohit Sharma set this world record