Once a one-dimensional bowler who seemed a little lost when batsmen went after him, Shami has evolved into a true leader of the pack. A fantastic Test match bowler, Ashwin's white-ball credentials aren’t to be disregarded either he is a proven wicket-taker, both up front and towards the final stages of the innings, an invaluable asset in an era where teams like to keep wickets in hand for a final assault in the last fifth of an innings in the 50-over game. Ashwin, the exceptional off-spinner who too has been relegated to the sidelines after the tournament-opener against Australia. Mohammed Shami is India’s most experienced paceman and the second-most experienced bowler in this World Cup squad after R. It didn’t take long for Shami to prove exactly what he brings to the table, or to show up the folly of leaving a pedigreed performer on the bench so as to artificially extend the batting order and field Shardul Thakur who, with due respect, is not a match-winner either with the ball or with the bat. It took an unfortunate injury to Hardik Pandya for India to finally ‘create’ space for the 33-year-old. One of the more vocal, constant questions during India’s all-conquering run in the early stages of the World Cup was: Where's Mohammed Shami? The captain, the head coach, the bowling coach, everyone waxed eloquent about what an awesome resource the pace bowler was to have, but how India were finding it difficult to fit him into their scheme of things.

Scary shelf cloud