Calcutta: Mohammed Shami’s debut Test back in 2013 at the Eden against West Indies was a clear indication of how well he had mastered the art of reverse swing.
It was Shami who took India to victory in that Test match after centuries from Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin left the West Indies languishing.
On the final day in Kanpur, Shami’s reverse swing helped India finish things off fast, following a brief resistance by Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner, and then by Santner and BJ Watling.
In an interview to bcci.tv, Shami himself was surprised to see reverse swing coming into play so late in the innings.
“The ball wasn’t reversing early on in the innings and we were waiting for the moment when we could get it to reverse,” Shami said analysing the situation.
“Then Virat (Kohli) gave me the ball and I bowled a couple of deliveries, expecting to get some reverse swing. We were waiting for the moment for three days and it reversed on the fifth day.
“The moment we could get a bit of reverse swing, we decided to execute it.”
Following the dismissal of Ronchi, Santner and Watling were watchful against Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Captain Kohli then threw the ball over to Shami and the move paid off instantly.
Shami got the reverse swing he was searching for, bowled a few probing lines, hit the pads on a few occasions and started asking questions.
In his second over of the morning session, the pacer struck Watling on the pads to give India an important breakthrough. In his next over, he rattled Mark Craig’s stumps. Those two wickets helped India wrap things up quickly.
In recent times for India, Shami has undoubtedly been one of the best exponents of reverse-swing bowling. And he loves bowling reverse swing.
“I constantly work hard to get my lines right to execute reverse swing well. There is a joy in bowling reverse swing. The old ball is one of my main weapons and I am comfortable bowling with it. I know if I can get a hint of reverse swing and can use it to good effect,” Shami said.
“The moment I start getting the ball to reverse, I get back to one of my strong points. I love bowling reverse swing.
“When the ball is reversing, I try to get the batsman out bowled or get him leg-before wicket. These two are the mode of dismissals that you get with reverse swing.
“When I get a feel that it’s going to help reverse swing, I look to hit the top of off-stump on maximum occasions or else I aim at the batsman’s pad. Both these factors happened against Watling and Craig.”
It’s easy to get the ball to reverse as this requires a collective effort to get it ready for reverse swing. “There is a lot of work behind getting the ball to reverse swing,” Shami explains.
““It’s like team effort, where every member of the team makes it a point to keep the ball dry at all times and maintain it throughout the day.
“There are times when you will get reverse swing but if it gets wet, you won’t be able to execute swing perfectly because the ball will tend to get heavy then.
“While bowling, consistency and accuracy is very important for reverse swing. If you bowl too full, you will go for runs. If you keep it too much at the back of the length, you won’t be able to get swing.
“As a bowler, you have to pitch in the right area and maintain that line and length, which is very important to get the reverse swing right.”
