Mohammed Shami: Biography| Age| IPL| Controversy|
Mohammed Shami Ahmed, aka “Lalaji”, of the Indian cricket team is a right-arm fast bowler who has represented India in various international formats and has made some records as well while playing for India’s team. With his fast arm and capability to swing both sides, he has given some hard times to various players, but how a guy from a small town reached this level and what odds he faced to become what he is today, let’s explore this Indian fast bowler’s life and the journey he has been through to make some records of his own in international cricket.
Mohammed Shami’s Childhood and Struggles:
Mohammed Shami Ahmed was born on the 3rd of September 1990 in district Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, to Late Touseef Ali (his father) and Anjum Ara (his mother). His father was a fast bowler himself in his youth days but didn’t get the sources at that time to show his talent to the world, but he was aware enough to see the talent of his son, and when Mohammed Shami was 15 years old, his father took him to a cricket coach in Moradabad named “Baruddin Siddique” who recognized his talent and Shami started training under his guidance.
Mohammed Shami’ Journey and Cricket Career:
When Mohammed Shami started training under his coach, Badruddin Siddique, he used to practice a lot with older balls to enhance his abilities to bowl reverse swing with the old balls, but he didn’t get the chance to play from his home state. That’s why his coach recommended that he play from Kolkata, and he started playing for the Dalhousie club.
Domestic Career:
After playing for Dalhousie Club, he started playing for Town Club and later joined Mohan Bagan Cricket Club. He then got the chance to play for the Kolkata stateside in the year 2010–11 in the Ranji Trophy. He consistently impressed the coaches and selectors with his bowling skills and got the chance to play for India A against West Indies A, where he bowled exceptionally well.
International Career:
He Had his ODI and Test debut in the year 2013, a test debut against West Indies, and an ODI debut against Pakistan in test debut he took 9 wickets, most by an Indian cricketer on his test debut. In his first ODI match, he bowled four maiden overs and since then he has become a pivotal part of the Indian cricket bowling squad.
Mohammed Shami made his international T20 debut in 2014 against Pakistan; he also played in the 2021 T20I World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup and gave some decent performances.
IPL Career:
Mohammed Shami’s IPL career started back in the year 2011 when he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders; later on, he became part of the Delhi Daredevils franchise and had a great season; in the year 2019, he was picked up by the Punjab Kings (Kings XI Punjab erstwhile); and as of now, in the year 2023, he is playing for the defending champions Gujarat Titans.
Read More: MS Dhoni’s Cricket Journey
Records and Achievements of Mohammed Shami:
- Mohammed Shami is the fastest 100-ODI wicket-taker from the Indian team; he took his 100th wicket in his 56th ODI.
- In his ODI debut against Pakistan, he bowled four maiden overs.
- In the year 2019, he became the second Indian bowler and the 10th bowler in the history of the ODI World Cup to take a hat trick. The first Indian bowler to do that was Chetan Sharma.
- In the year 2022, Mohammad Shami became the fastest Indian cricketer to take 150 ODI wickets.
- Mohammed Shami has two five-wicket hauls to his name so far: one against the West Indies in his debut test match and another against Australia.
Mohammed Shami’s Cricket Stats:
This right-arm fast bowler of the Indian cricket team has, in his cricketing career so far, managed the following statistics in his name:
Format | Matches played | Bowling Average | Wickets |
T20I | 23 | 29.62 | 24 |
ODI | 90 | 25.99 | 162 |
Test cricket | 63 | 27.49 | 225 |
IPL | 97 | 28.6 | 106 |
Personal and Social Life of Mohammed Shami:
Mohammed Shami is fairly active on social media and posts updates on his accounts about his life in and outside of cricket. In his brief interview with Yuzvendra Chahal, he referred to Mohammed Shami as “Lalaji” and since then he has become quite popular among his followers with the name “Lalaji”. Mohammed Shami has 3 brothers and 1 sister. He got married to Hasin Jahan in 2014, whom he dated for a long time, but after allegations of domestic violence against him made by his wife, they got separated.
Mohammed Shami’s Controversy:
Mohammed Shami’s reputation took a hit in 2018 when his wife Hasin Jahan accused him of domestic violence. He was removed from his contract with the BCCI due to the additional allegations of his wife accusing him of match-fixing, but later, when the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit did the required investigation, they found Shami not guilty and the BCCI restored his contract.
On January, 2023, a Kolkata court ordered him to pay Rs 1.30 lakh in alimony to his wife every month so that she could manage the household expenses for herself and her daughter.
Read More: Virat Kohli’s Journey