There are many incredible stories of players who have made remarkable comebacks in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but one of the most talked about stories is Mohammed Shami's "Redemption Arc." This past Wednesday, even though DC won their game against LSG relatively easily, 6 wickets to 0, it was difficult to take the attention away from Shami's electrifying performance after he debuted with the LSG.
A Dream Start
Last evening at the Ekana Stadium, the Delhi Capitals, chasing a total of 142, were caught off guard straightaway by a splendid Shami display. From the first ball of the innings, Shami broke through the threatening KL Rahul with a golden duck.
That was a clever plan; knowing Rahul's weakness of playing the inside-out shot, Shami showed a wide ball to lure the batsman who ended up slicing the ball straight to Mohsin Khan at deep point.
Former Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara, talking on Star Sports, praised the veteran bowler's discipline.
He said, "Shami bowled in a way that did not let the batters score easily. He bowled lines and restricted the flow of runs."
Pujara added that Shami has been working hard in cricket for the last year. This hard work is now paying off in matches. Shami's efforts are really paying dividends on the stage.
The Statistics of a Masterclass
Despite LSG’s eventual defeat, Shami’s figures of 1 for 28 in his four-over spell don't tell the full story of the pressure he exerted.
Total Runs Conceded: 28
Wickets: 1 (KL Rahul, 0.1 ov)
Economy Rate: 7.00
Sameer Rizvi’s Heroics Seal the Deal for DC
Shami’s explosive performance with the ball set the stage for an important win for the Delhi Capitals on Friday (March 17) against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their second match of IPL 2023.
While he got three wickets early in the innings, it was Sameer Rizvi who anchored the Delhi chase with a deep, strategic innings of 70 runs off 47 balls. Sameer came into bat when Delhi was struggling at 26-4 but went on to build a match-winning partnership with Tristan Stubbs (39 not out) for an unbroken 119-run partnership. The result gave Delhi its first points of the season.
Earlier in the night, the LSG batsmen struggled against the excellent partnership of Lungi Ngidi and T Natarajan, who shared six wickets between them. LSG was bowled out for just 141 runs in their innings.
After an injury that kept him out of the 2024 season and spending some time with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2025, Shami's transfer to Lucknow for an astonishing Rs 10 crore carried a lot of expectations with it. Pujara believes that this performance is "only the beginning" for him. Being the mainstay of Gujarat Titans' 2022 championship team, Shami's route to the Indian colors is probably via Lucknow this year.
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