Mohammed Shami replaced the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Indian team for the game against Afghanistan. A more fitter Shami who had left Biryani to achieve the maximum level of fitness looked impressive right from the first bowl he bowled. He soon pick the wicket of Hazratullah Zazai to give a hope to India who were defending a low total of 225 runs.
Indian bowling line up led by Jasprit Bumrah did reasonably well to restrict the Afghanistani batsman but the resistance from Mohammad Nabi kept the Afghan team in the game. They needed 16 runs off the last over and Mohammed Shami bowled the last over for India.
What happened in the last over
Nabi hit him for a four on the very first ball of the over, beating the long on fielder. He took no run on the second ball but the turning point of the game came in the third ball of the over when Shami bowled a full delivery on which Nabi tried to clear the long on fielder for a six but only managing to get caught by Hardik Pandya.
He hit the timber of Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Zadran on the 4th and 5th ball of the over to complete the hattrick and become the second Indian to achieve the feat in the world cup.
What did Dhoni say to Shami
Just before the wicket of Mohammad Nabi, MS Dhoni rushed towards Mohammed Shami and gave him some instructions for the next delivery which eventually worked. Social media was all praise for the former captain and his insights to Shami that changed the complexion of the match.
“Simple plan. He is a bowler, there was only one option – to bowl a yorker on the stumps. Mahi bhai also said the same thing, don’t try to change anything. You have a great chance of getting a hat-trick, such chances are very rare, you have to do the same thing. I did that and I’m very happy that I got the hat-trick,” the 29-year-old Shami was quoted as saying by News18.
Hat tricks in World Cups
Chetan Sharma v NZ 1987
Saqlain Mushtaq v Zim 1999
C Vaas v Ban 2003
Brett Lee v Ken 2003
L Malinga v SA 2007
K Roach v Net 2011
L Malinga v Ken 2011
S Finn v Aus 2015
JP Duminy v SL 2015
SHAMI v Afg 2019
