Photo: SportzpicsKings XI Punjab snatched victory from the jaws of defeat last night at the Dubai International Stadium in the 2020 Dream11 Indian Premier League against Mumbai Indians. While it was a spectacular team performance that got KXIP over the line on Sunday, one individual performance that stood out in that team was that of ace speedster Mohammed Shami.
Nobody gave the 29-year-old a prayer when he was tasked with defending a meagre target of six runs in the first Super Over, against the Mumbai Indians openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock. Shami however managed to defy the odds, as he peppered the MI openers with back-to-back yorkers, forcing the game into a second Super Over, while ultimately took KXIP over the line.
“As a bowler, we generally know that we get around 14-15 runs to defend in a Super Over, so you are always confident. However, like in this game when the margin of error is so small, all I thought about was what’s the best delivery that I can execute?,” revealed Mohammed Shami in a post-match interview.
“I believed in myself to nail those yorkers, and after delivery when I was walking back to my runup, all I thought was this ball was well executed, the next one wil be as well. So I repeated the same ball six times and I thing that is what made us successful,” he added.
As good as KL was today, MOTM for me was surely Mohammed Shami. Bowled the toughest of the 4 super overs, and impacted the main game too. Like a point @GautamGambhir keeps making, let the opposition coach decide MOTMs, not commentators. Just seems like a better adjudicator.
— Raunak Kapoor (@RaunakRK) October 18, 2020
KXIP skipper KL Rahul was also all praise for his star pacer, while speaking in the post-match press conference. “You can never prepare for Super Overs. I had a few different ideas going into that, but one thing I’ve learnt is you have to trust your bowler’s instincts. Shami was very clear he wanted to go with six yorkers. He has been phenomenal for us in the last two seasons, and he keeps getting better with every game,” said Rahul.
Shami’s partner in crime Chris Jordan also spoke highly about his bowling prowess in the Super Over. “After our batting in the Super Over, it would have been very easy for our heads to drop. But the way Shami bowled that Super Over, defending six runs was tremendous. I genuinely felt a sense of belief amongst the group and we felt the momentum swung back our way,” concluded Jordan.
