Till a few days ago, it was uncertain if Mohammed Shami had it in him to last the rigours of a 50-over match. It was feared he could end up injuring himself if he had to bowl 10 overs in a match.

The fast bowler played two of the three ODIs versus England without showing promise of reinventing his form, which saw him capture 24 wickets in seven matches in the 2023 World Cup.

But the big occasion always brings out the best in Shami. On Thursday, at the Dubai International Stadium, he finished with 5/53, his sixth five-wicket haul in ODIs, to dismiss Bangladesh for 228.

He became the fastest Indian bowler and joint second quickest overall to reach 200 ODI wickets in his
104th match.

With 60 wickets, Shami is now India’s leading wicket-taker in the 50-overs ICC events — the ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy — followed by Zaheer Khan (59), Javagal Srinath (47) and Ravindra Jadeja (43). He now finds himself needing to play another big role with Jasprit Bumrah out with injury.

Shami has already missed more than a year of cricket following his ankle injury during the ODI World Cup. He underwent surgery in March 2024 but subsequently faced issues in his knee, further delaying his return.

Shami compared his comeback to “a toddler learning how to walk”.

“I always wondered when I would be able to put my feet on the ground again, as someone who is used to running on the field was now in crutches,” Shami, 34, was quoted as saying by the ICC.

“A lot of thoughts used to run through my mind. Will I be able to do it again? Will I be able to walk without a limp? For the first two months, I often doubted whether I would be able to play again as an injury like this followed by a 14-month break can pull you down.

“My first question to the doctor was ‘how many days until I can be back on the field’. He said, ‘my priority is to get you to walk, then jog, and then run and thinking about playing competitive cricket is still a distant goal’.

“After 60 days, when they asked me to put my feet on the ground, you won’t believe me, but I have never been more scared to put my foot on the ground. It felt like I was starting over, like a toddler learning how to walk, and I was worried about complications.”

But the desire to play for the country pushed him to work harder. “The desire to wear the India badge on my chest kept me going,” he said. “It was tough and there was pain, but with resilience and patience I made it through.”

With a robust start to another ICC tournament, Shami is ready to reap the rewards.