Mohammed Shami's numbers at the 50-overs World Cup make for impressive reading: 12 matches, 36 wickets at an average of 15.02 and an economy of 5.09. They're the kind of big-tournament numbers teams yearn for. Teams go any lengths to wrap such performers in cottonwool for the fear of injury.
There's little doubt that Shami is one of India's main fast bowlers. But so far at the 2023 World Cup, he hadn't quite been the one. Until Sunday, of course, in Dharamsala, when he left an indelible mark against New Zealand: immaculate control up front bookended by death-overs mastery. Not even a sublime Virat Kohli innings couldn't quite shade Shami's second World Cup five-for under the Himalayan mist.
From being an out-and-out strike bowler across phases, Shami has had to watch much of the early parts of the campaign from the sidelines, not because he's less skilled than those preferred above him, but because the team management has drawn comfort from having some batting insurance at No. 8, provided by Shardul Thakur.
Last month, in the run-up to the World Cup, India were forced to abandon a chase of 352 against Australia in Rajkot because of the lack of batting depth. Rohit Sharma turbocharged to 81 off 57, Kohli made a near run-a-ball 56 and Shreyas Iyer 48. They only needed one other batter to go big. Eventually, Ravindra Jadeja was forced to treat the end game as an extended net because their lower-order batting was too thin.
For Sunday's match, an injury to Hardik Pandya forced the team management to make one change at the very least; but they made two. While Suryakumar Yadav for Hardik seemed straightforward, playing Shami for Shardul was a bolder call because they were sacrificing this batting depth, which has been a bugbear, against a gun line-up that had the wood over India in ICC events.
But as New Zealand's innings progressed, it became clear why they'd preferred Shami, even if they wouldn't have perhaps realised immediately the potential this move can unlock for the rest of their campaign. After all, there was a target to chase - 273 no less - under lights against Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson, protagonists of their biggest heartbreak in recent memory.
India could've so easily have been chasing 320, but for Shami reining in an innings that seemed set to go into overdrive; they were gasping in the end. The trigger was the dismissal of a set Rachin Ravindra for 75.
With Kuldeep Yadav having been taken for 48 off his five overs, India may have been yearning for a sixth bowling option. But an over into his second spell, Shami's subtle variation - a cutter into the pitch that seemed to hold up a fraction more than we've seen in the previous games - proved devious as Ravindra picked out long-on.
It wasn't a typical fast bowler's wicket, but in the set-up lay Shami's understanding of the surface and the adjustment he made. The end result wasn't so subtle. That Shami wicket, which broke a threatening 159-run stand, had a trickledown effect on the rest of the bowlers, most definitely Kuldeep, who bounced back to end strongly with 2 for 25 off his next five overs. In all, India picked up New Zealand's last six wickets for 30, Shami claiming three of them.
How did he do it? Mostly by staying true to his virtues of trying to hit the stumps. In the death, going cross-seam appeared a prudent call on a two-paced deck. But there's more than an element of skill involved in executing deliveries you plan in your head at the top of your mark, as Shami showed. Mitch Santner is a big hitter, and a six here or a four there in the 48th could've potentially added a few more to New Zealand's total.
But Shami bounded in to deliver the prefect yorker from around the stumps, one that kept curving back, cutting through thin air at 140 clicks to crash into the furniture before Santner could bring his bat down. Simply facing bowlers with skillsets such as Shami's can be pressure enough. You know what's coming, like Santner did, but it truly crushes you when you can't do anything about it.
Henry found that out next ball. He was perhaps watching for his toes and hanging back, until he realised just how quickly a length ball had angled in and decked back further to beat his swing. This was proper fast-bowling royalty, delivering the kind of visceral thrill we knew Shami can deliver but didn't know if he would at this World Cup.
All the hoopla around Shami's magic may have yet vanished into thin air had India stumbled in their chase. They did have their fair share of nervy moments, like when KL Rahul and Suryakumar were dismissed in quick succession with the target still 83 away. But Jadeja's composure backed India's rip-roaring top order and could yet mean Shami may have a bigger role to play as the World Cup veers past the halfway mark.
Yes, it may cost them lower-order potential. But what if the lower order isn't needed at all, like it wasn't against New Zealand? It'll be a big call either way, and Shami hasn't made it easier.