He is a right-arm fast bowler who bowls the ball away from the seam and moves it in both directions with momentum, including reverse swing. He was described as a good bowler at the end of a limited overs innings and was described as "unplayable" at times in all formats.

Shami made his international debut in January 2013 in a One Day International (ODI) against Pakistan, where he bowled four first overs. On his Test debut in November 2013, he managed a five-wicket win against the West Indies. He is the fastest Indian bowler to take 100 ODI wickets. During the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he became the second Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in a World Cup match. As of 2022, Shami has a Central A contract from the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI), the second highest contract level.

Early Life and Career

Shami grew up in Sahaspur village in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, as one of five children. His father Tauseef Ali was a farmer who had been a fast bowler in his youth; When Shami was 15, he was taken to Badruddin Siddique, a cricket coach in Moradabad, a town 22 kilometers from his home.

“When I saw him [Shami] bowling at the nets for the first time as a 15-year-old, I knew this boy was not ordinary. So I decided to train him. For a year I prepared him for the UP exams like we did.” There is no club cricket here. He was very cooperative, very regular and very hardworking. He never took a day off from training. He bowled really well during the U19 trials but due to political reasons he missed out on selection. They asked me to bring him next year, but at that moment I didn't want Shami to miss a year. So I advised his parents to send him to Calcutta.
— Badruddin Siddique on Mohammed Shami

Shami worked hard on his technique during his time in Moradabad; After games, he would request the used balls so that he could develop the ability to reverse swing the older ball, a skill that would be crucial to his later success in his career. However, he was not selected for the Uttar Pradesh under-19 team and later in 2005, Badruddin sent him to Kolkata to increase his chances of being selected for a state team. After playing for Dalhousie Athletic Club, he was recommended to Debabrata Das, a former assistant secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal, who was impressed by Shami's bowling and asked him to join his own club, the Town Club. Shami, who had no place to stay in Calcutta, took this into account. After bowling well for the town club, Das asked one of the Bengal selectors, Sambaran Banerjee, to watch Shami bowl; Banerjee was impressed and picked him for the Bengal U22 team.

“Shami never wanted money. His target was the stumps, the sound made when hitting the stumps. Since I saw him, most of his wickets were bowled. He bowls with an upright seam, on or just outside the off-stump, and gets to cut it in again.
— Debabrata Das about Mohammed Shami

Shami later joined Mohun Bagan Cricket Club, one of the top teams in Bengal, to be considered for selection in the all-state team. He bowled against former India captain Sourav Ganguly in the nets at Eden Gardens; Ganguly recommended him to the state selectors and soon after, Shami was included in the Bengal squad for the 2010-11 Ranji Trophy.

Domestic Career

Shami took four wickets on his senior debut for Bengal in a Twenty20 match in October 2010. The following month he made his first-class cricket debut against Assam at Eden Gardens, winning three wickets in a high-scoring match.

In February 2012, his bowling helped East Zone win their first Duleep Trophy title; He took eight wickets in the match and was described as "outstanding, bounce throughout and zip just under a good length". He had only played in the match following an injury sustained by Abu Nechim, but it proved to be a significant breakthrough in Shami's career. He had been described as "little known" before the game but was touted in April as a player to watch in the upcoming Indian Premier League season.

Chosen to tour the West Indies with the Indian A-side, he "impressed" with his bowling on pitches that were generally considered unhelpful to fast bowlers. Shami was considered the 'surprise package' of the tour for India A, impressing the team's coach, Lalchand Rajput, with his strength and consistency in bowling, as well as his hitting. Finishing tenth in the first unofficial Test match, he scored 27 runs in a partnership of 73 with Cheteshwar Pujara, who won the match for India A. Later in the year, he was one of only two fast bowlers retained for the India A tour of New Zealand, despite only playing in two of the six games on the tour.

During the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy, Shami took 11 wickets in a match against Madhya Pradesh in November, including seven wickets for 79 carries (7/79) in the first innings, a return that included a hat trick. The following month he took 4/36 and 6/71 against Hyderabad on a green wicket at Eden Gardens, his second ten-wicket match in only his 15th first-class game. In the five Ranji Trophy matches he played during the season, he won 28 wickets at a bowling average of 21.25 runs per wicket, and in the 18 top-flight matches he played before his 2013 Test debut he won on average 71 wickets four wickets per game.

Since making his international debut in 2013, Shami has only played occasionally for his national side. He played a limited overs match in March 2017 after not playing competitive cricket for four months, and later in 2017 attended four Ranji Trophy matches, his first in about five years, to develop his fitness and maintain ] A single top-flight game for Bengal followed in 2018 - with a request from the BCCI that he not be allowed to bowl more than 15 overs in any innings of the game to ensure his fitness for an upcoming Test series.

Career in the Indian Premier League

Shami was signed in 2011 by Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. Kolkata's head coach Dav Whatmore had worked with the Bengal Cricket Association and identified Shami, who had played Twenty20 games for Bengal, as a player with potential. He made a single appearance for the team in the 2011 Champions League Twenty20 but despite being touted as a player likely to make an impression ahead of the 2012 tournament, he only played in the 2013 IPL and made three appearances for Kolkata during that season.

Prior to the 2014 season, teams were allowed to keep a maximum of five players and following his international debut, Shami was signed by the Delhi Daredevils in the player auction. He played in 12 of Delhi's 14 games during the season and conceded seven wickets; He was retained but did not play a game the following season after being ruled out with a knee injury. He played sporadically in the IPL over the following three seasons, playing eight games for Delhi in 2016 and 2017 and just four in 2018 when he was again hampered by a knee injury.

After Shami was released by Delhi before the 2019 season, he was bought by Kings XI Punjab in the 2019 player auction. He returned to fitness, took 19 wickets, recorded his first 3-wicket haul in the IPL with 3/21 against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium and was the team's leading wicket-taker, a feat he achieved the following season repeated as he took 20 wickets, best return of his career. During the season, he allowed just five runs during a Super Over against Mumbai Indians, making the match which Punjab eventually won a second Super Over. This was the first time in IPL history that a single-digit score was defended in a Super Over, earning Shami praise for the way he bowled the yorkers accurately under pressure.

In the 2021 season, Shami took 19 wickets in 14 matches and became Punjab's leading wicket-taker for the third consecutive time and fifth highest wicket-taker in this year's competition. During the season, he became the fourth bowler in franchise history to take 50 wickets for Punjab. However, he was casually released ahead of the 2022 IPL auction.

He was purchased by Gujarat Titans, a newly formed franchise, for ₹6.25 crore (equivalent to ₹6.6 crore or US$830,000 in 2023) from the main group of players. He took 20 wickets during the season at an economy rate of 8.00 runs per over as Gujarat won the league title in his first season. The following season, he posted the best T20 bowling figures of his career and took his first four-wicket haul in the format against Delhi. In the same season, he won the Purple Cap (leading wicket-taker) for the first time with 28 wickets from 17 matches and was the leading powerplay wicket-taker in a season in league history overall during the phase with 17 wickets.

Move to Punjab

After being sacked by Delhi ahead of the 2019 season, Shami was bought by Kings XI Punjab in the 2019 player auction for 4.8 crores. Fit again, he took 19 wickets, registered his first 3-wicket move in IPL with 3/21 against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium and was the team's leading wicket-taker, a feat he repeated the following season when he won 20 wickets, the best return of his career. During his team's first game of the season against Delhi Capitals, he recorded his career bests in tournament history, sacking Prithvi Shaw, Shimron Hetmyer and Shreyas Iyer for 15 runs and beating his previous best of 3/21. During the season, he only allowed five runs during a super over against Mumbai Indians, taking the match, which Punjab eventually won, into a second super over. This marked the first time in IPL history that a single-digit score had been defended in a super over, earning Shami praise for the way he accurately threw Yorkers under pressure.

In the 2021 season, Shami took 19 wickets in 14 games to finish for the third consecutive season as Punjab's leading wicket-taker and fifth highest wicket-taker in that year's competition. During the season, he became the fourth bowler in franchise history to win 50 wickets for Punjab.

Mohammed Shami IPL 2022 Prior to the 2022 IPL auction, Shami was released from Punjab and bought by the Gujarat Titans, a newly formed franchise, for 6.25 crores from the auction's cricketers as franchises were allowed to keep a maximum of four players.

International cricket

Test Career

Shami made his Test debut against West Indies in November 2013 in front of his home crowd at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. There he took his first Test wicket - that of Kieran Powell - and ended up counting 17-2-71-4 in the first innings of the Test match. In the second innings, his numbers were 13.1-0-47-5. He had a dream debut, taking 9 wickets for 118 runs - the most by an Indian pacer on debut and surpassing Munaf Patel's 7 wickets for 97 runs at Mohali in 2006.

He played Tests against South Africa and New Zealand, picking 6 and 10 wickets respectively. During the 2014 Tour of England, Shami won 5 wickets in 3 games and was involved in a 111 run partnership for the 10th wicket, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar scoring his first half century in the first Test at Trent Bridge, helping India post 457 in the first innings.

He was part of the 19 man squad for the 2014/15 Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia where he played 3 games and won 15 wickets with a 35.80 average. During the third game of the series at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Shami hit a 153.2 km/h (95.2 mph) delivery, his fastest delivery to date. He also joined the 20 Indian bowlers club with 100 Test wickets, reaching the 29 Test post-series milestone.

Shami was included in the Team India squad for the 2018 Tour of England and competed in all five Tests. He finished the series with 16 wickets, with his best performance coming in the penultimate match of the series, taking 6 wickets.

2019-21 ICC World Test Championship

During the 2019–21 ICC Test World Cup, Shami won 9 wickets in the 2019 two-match Test series between India and West Indies while winning 13 and 5 wickets in the series against South Africa (2019) and New Zealand (2020). He was included in Match XI of the First International Pink Ball Test match organized in India at Eden Gardens as the second match of the 2019–20 Bangladesh Tour of India where he won two wickets. During the tour, he also achieved seventh place in the ICC men's player rankings after winning 7 wickets in game one, with his 790 rating points third best for an Indian pace bowler, tied only with Kapil Dev (877) and Jasprit Bumrah (832). ) have previously achieved a higher rating.

During the 2020–21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Shami suffered a broken arm while fighting Pat Cummins in the second inning of the first Test. He retired injured while hitting and was eliminated from the rest of the series.

Shami was tied with Jofra Archer as the 10th highest wicket-taker of the tournament with a total of 40 wickets. He was the highest wicket-taker among the Indian pacers and the second highest among all Indian bowlers, behind only Ravichandran Ashwin.

He also played in the Test Championship final against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, winning 4 wickets, all in the first innings.

2021–23 ICC World Test Championship

During the 2021–23 ICC Test World Cup in the 2021 India–England series, Shami scored his highest score in India's second innings on 16 August 2021 and his second half-century in Test cricket with an unbeaten score of 56* in a partnership with Jasprit Bumrah who helped Team India post a historic win over England. Although Shami only played 3 matches in the 5-match streak, Shami became the 5th highest wicket-taker of the series with 11 wickets, with the best counts of 4/95 being achieved during the first innings of the third match of the series.

During the first innings of the first Test of the 2021–22 India-South Africa Test series, Shami took 5 wickets for 44 runs, becoming the fifth Indian pacer (and with the lowest number of deliveries – 9896) to take 200 wickets in Test cricket. For his achievements, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri praised him on Twitter as the "Sultan of Bengal". At the end of the game, which India eventually won, the Test captain of the Indian team, Virat Kohli, praised Shami for taking 8 wickets in total in the game, saying: "For me he's in the top three searn in the world at the moment ." He finished the series with 14 wickets from 3 games as India's leading wicket-taker in the series.

In the ongoing Test World Championship 2021–23, Shami is the 5th highest wicket-taker with 25 wickets in 6 games.

ODI Career

Due to his performances in domestic matches, Shami was selected for India's One Day International (ODI) series against Pakistan, replacing his Bengali teammate Ashok Dinda and subsequently making his debut in the third ODI of the series in Delhi on 6 January 2013. He gave numbers of 1 /23 back from 9 overs in a low scoring game won by India by 10 runs. In October 2013 he was selected in India's squad to face the touring Australians. After being dropped from the team in the first three ODI games, he played in all the remaining games, taking seven wickets, including two three-wicket hauls, and emerging as the fourth leading wicket-taker of the series.

On India's tour of New Zealand in 2014, Shami took 11 wickets in ODIs with an average of 28.72.

On March 5, 2014, during the 2014 Asian Cup, against Afghanistan, Shami was the second fastest Indian to win 50 ODI wickets and achieved the feat in 29 innings. He finished the tournament with 9 wickets at 23.59.

After losing the Test series 3-1 to England, India won the ODI series 3-1 in which Shami took 8 wickets at 24.16. In the 5th ODI he threw a good spell in the death overs, with tight line and length and medium blunt yorkers. After the match, cricket pundits dubbed him the future of Indian bowling.

Shami took 10 wickets against West Indies in October 2014 at 17:40. In the 2nd ODI of the series, he achieved his best bowling figure in ODIs when he took 4 wickets for 36 runs in his 9.3 overs.

He was in the 15-man squad for 5 ODIs against Sri Lanka in November 2014 but was replaced by Dhawal Kulkarni due to a toe injury sustained during the West Indies series.

For his achievements in 2014 he was included in the World ODI XI by the ICC.

ODI World Championship 2015

Shami was part of the 15-man squad named for the 2015 World Cup and was eventually included in the playing XI. He took 4 wickets on 35 runs from his 9 overs in India's first game against Pakistan and helped India win the game. He was named Man of the Match against West Indies after finishing with numbers 8-2-35-3. He also had good play in the next game against Ireland, finishing 3/41 from 9 overs. In the last of the league games against Zimbabwe, he took another 3-wicket haul and gave away 48 runs from his 9 overs, including two maids. India won all league games. He scored twice against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals but had a poor game in the semi-finals against Australia, which India lost, where he gave away 68 runs from 10 overs without picking a wicket, finishing the tournament on 17 wickets for an average of 17.29 and a saving rate of 4.81 as the fourth leading wicket-taker. In June, after the tournament concluded, Shami revealed that he was bowling due to recurring pain in his left knee. He later had surgery. For his achievements in 2015, he was named to the World ODI XI by the ICC.

Shami returned to the squad for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy after a two-year hiatus due to a shoulder injury. Due to a lack of playing time, however, he was not used in any of the tournament's games.

New Zealand Tour 2019

In January 2019, while on tour of New Zealand, Shami took his 100th ODI wicket in the first of five games in which Martin Guptill came out of bowling. He became the fastest Indian bowler to take 100 ODI wickets, reaching the milestone in his 56th match during the inaugural ODI against New Zealand in Napier. The Indian record for fastest bowler with 100 ODI wickets was previously held by Irfan Pathan, who arrived there in his 59th match. As of January 2022, the world record is held by Afghan leg spinner Rashid Khan, who needed just 44 games to reach the mark.

Playing in four games throughout the series, Shami won nine wickets with an average of 15.33 and was named man of the series. According to Sportstar, that streak rejuvenated Shami's white ball carrier and helped him secure a place in the 2019 Cricket World Cup squad.

2019 ODI Cricket World Cup

Bumrah and Shami In April 2019, he was named to India's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup for his achievements in white ball cricket. He was one of the only three fast bowlers in the squad, the other two being Jasprit Bumrah and white ball specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar. On 22 June 2019, Shami scored a hat-trick in the game against Afghanistan, becoming the ninth cricketer and second Indian bowler after Chetan Sharma to clinch a hat-trick in a World Cup match. On 30 June 2019, in the game against England, Shami scored his first five-wicket draw in ODIs and became the first Indian bowler to score three consecutive four-wicket hauls at the World Cup, with 4/40 against Afghanistan, 4/16 against the West Indies and 5/69 against England. After playing well in 4 consecutive matches, the decision to pick Bhuvneshwar Kumar over Shami raised eyebrows among the cricket pundits, who took to Twitter to express their displeasure at the decision. Despite only appearing in 4 games, Shami took 14 wickets making him the 12th highest wicket taker in the tournament and the second best Indian behind Jasprit Bumrah (who won 18 wickets in 9 games). He had the best bowling strike rate of 15.07 and the best average of 13.78 of any bowler in the tournament with at least six overs played.

With 42 wickets from 21 games in 2019, Shami ended the year as the leading wicket-taker at ODIs.

Shami was part of the three-match ODI series between India and Australia in 2020, which the Indian team eventually won by 2-1. After being wicketless in the first game, he took 7 wickets in the next two games, finishing the streak as the leading wicket-taker. After the series, Shami's ability to bowl Yorkers stubbornly and take wickets during the power play and death overs was widely praised.

In December he was included in Team India's squad for the series against Australia on Australian soil and he won 4 wickets in the 2 ODIs he played.

In September 2023, in the first ODI of Australia Tour of India, he has registered the career-best figures of 5/51 and thus making his second five-wicket-haul in ODIs.

T20I Career

Shami made his Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) debut on 21 March 2014 against Pakistan in the opening match of the 2014 T20 World Cup, taking the wicket from Umar Akmal to give him counts of 1/31 in 4 overs. He played the next two games but was then dropped for the remainder of the tournament.

After the test series in July, he was included in the 2014 England tour. He played in the only match of the series and finished with 3 wickets conceding 38 runs. Shami returned to the squad for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after spending more than two years recovering from a shoulder injury, but lacking form and playing time meant he did not feature in any of the tournament's games.

T20 World Championship 2021

Despite not having performed as well in T20Is as in the other two formats, Shami was selected for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup for his performances in three consecutive seasons in the Indian Premier League. He was one of the three main team fast bowlers, the other two being Jasprit Bumrah and white ball specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He was the only Bengal cricketer in the squad.

Speaking of Shami's inclusion in the India team's roster, ESPNcricinfo wrote: "Bowling at the Death has likely given Shami an advantage over Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur [both in reserves], who have had greater success at the top. Shami has 14 death over wickets since IPL 2020, which is the same as Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj combined. He can move the ball either way, as he's shown many times in the past, and as a bonus he has that undefinable ability to be unplayable regardless of format once he gets into his rhythm."

Shami went wicketless in the first two games of the tournament before posting career-best numbers in back-to-back games against Afghanistan (with 3/32) and Scotland with 3/15. Shami played every game for India in the tournament.

T20 World Cup 2022

Shami was initially placed on standby for the 2022 T20 World Cup, but after Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury, he was named as Bumrah's replacement. Shami finished the tournament with 6 wickets.

Asian Cup 2023

Shami was selected to play for the team and his name was added to the 15-man squad ahead of the start of the 2023 Asia Cup. He played his first game in the series against Nepal, replacing Bumrah, who had to leave the squad and return to Mumbai due to personal reasons.

Records

Shami took nine wickets in his first Test match of 2013, the most by an Indian fast bowler on his debut.

On March 5, 2014, Shami Cricket became the second fastest Indian bowler to take 50 ODI wickets.

Part of 2014 ICC World ODI XI.

Part of 2015 ICC World ODI XI

In January 2019, Shami became the fastest Indian bowler to win 100 ODI wickets.

In June 2019, he became the second Indian to score a hat-trick in a World Cup game.

Highest wicket taker at ODIs in 2019.

In September 2021, Shami became the fourth bowler to take 50 wickets for Punjab Kings.

In December 2021, he became the third fastest Indian pacer with the fewest number of deliveries to take 200 Test wickets.

As of January 2022, Shami has the 10th best batting average of his career with One Day Internationals.

He holds the record for most consecutive four wickets in an innings at One Day Internationals (3).

Purple Cap holder in IPL 2023.

Bowling Style

Shami is a fast right-arm bowler who has the ability to move the ball out of the seam and move the ball in either direction with momentum, including backswing. He has consistently bowled at around 140 km/h (87 mph), with his top bowling speed being 153.2 km/h during the 2014 series at MCG vs Australia. According to ESPNcricinfo, the secret of Shami's success lies in his wrist as his run-up and action are quite smooth. He used to be accused of stepping on his feet to search wickets one too many times, but has now shifted the attack line ever so slightly to the left. So when he's bowling in the canal, he's really bowling in the canal. His wicket-taking ability and bowling reverse swing make him one of the deadliest bowlers in the world, which is why he has sometimes been described as "unplayable" regardless of format.

Shami's ability to consistently throw yorkers at much-needed times has been debated and praised by several former cricketers and critics. His wrist is tight at the time of delivery and his slightly split fingers come down so straight that the seam invariably comes out upright, which, besides being neither a swing bowler nor a hit-the-deck hard Bowler is unique makes faster bowler.

“You can see that in how it adjusts to different pitches and adjusts its length. He now knows which surface to set it up on and which lane to roll that good length.

— Former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun, who worked extensively with Shami

Outside Cricket

Shami's father and three brothers all played cricket, with one brother, Mohammed Kaif, making his List A debut for Bengal in 2021. During the COVID-19 lockdown in India in 2020, Shami was training alongside his brother in their home village of Sahaspur. During the lockdown, Shami and his family helped bring food to the people of their village.

Shami married Hasin Jahan in 2014. The couple have one child. In 2020, Shami spoke about the impact his wife's injuries and a series of allegations have had on his mental health. He spoke three times about contemplating suicide and credited his family for supporting him during this time.

Allegations of Domestic Violence

In March 2018, his wife Hasin Jahan filed a First Information Report against Shami and members of his family, alleging domestic violence and adultery. Shami's older brother was also charged with rape. Shami has been charged with offenses related to domestic violence, attempted murder, poisoning and criminal intimidation. Shami denied all the allegations, claiming it was a conspiracy and was made to distract him from cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) withdrew Shami from its national contract list over the allegations. His wife also claimed Shami was involved in match fixing. This was investigated by the BCCI-led anti-corruption unit and on March 22 the board reinstated Shami's national contract and cleared him of the corruption charges.

On September 2, 2019, an Alipore court issued an arrest warrant for Shami in connection with the domestic violence charges and gave him 15 days to surrender after his return to India. The warrant was stayed by a district court on September 9 because the court that issued the warrant failed to issue a subpoena to appear in court after the indictment was filed.

Victims of Online Abuse

In October 2021, Shami, then the only Muslim player on the Indian side, became the victim of an online trolling campaign and faced a spate of abuse, many of it Islamophobic, on social media following India's loss to Pakistan during the ICC 2021 T20 Men's World Championship. He had conceded 43 carries during the game and was India's most expensive bowler. Several current and former cricketers, including India's captain Virat Kohli, publicly supported Shami following the abuse, with Kohli being explicit about the Islamophobic nature of the abuse Shami received.