Mohammed Shami was named the player of the match in the 1st ODI match of Australia’s tour of India 2023 at Mohali.
Mohammed Shami on five-wicket haul in IND vs AUS 1st ODI
India won the 1st ODI match of the Australia tour of India 2023 at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. With the senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rested in the series, KL Rahul led the team in the ODI series.
Ravichandran Ashwin replaced Axar Patel in the squad due to the injury he sustained during the match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup 2023. Ashwin made his first ODI appearance after 611 days and made a comeback by dismissing Marnus Labuschagne.
Starting the innings, Mitchell Marsh and Warner opened for Australia, while Shami opened the bowling attack. Mohammad Shami was so intense as he dismissed Mitchell on the fourth ball in the first over of the innings. David Warner backed the team with an impressive start as he scored 52 runs including 6 boundaries and 2 sixes before being sent out by Ravindra Jadeja. Steven Smith joined a partnership with David Warner to score 94 runs and had an individual score of 41 and was sent out by Shami.
With Labuschagne’s dismissal with 39 runs by Ashwin, Australia is down to 4 for 157 runs in the 33rd over. Cameron Green scored 31 runs but was sent out on a runout. Josh Inglis was dismissed by Bumrah on 45 runs while Stoinis scored 29 runs and was sent out by Shami.
Pat Cummins scored an unbeaten 21 runs, but other batters couldn’t keep up with them as they were sent out with low figures. By the end, Australia scored a total of 276 runs in 50 overs losing all 10 wickets.
With a target of 277, India started their innings where Ruturaj and Shubman Gill opened for India while Pat Cummins opened the bowling attack. The openers were impressive as they had a partnership score of 142 runs. Ruturaj Gaikwad had scored 71 runs on 77 deliveries including 10 boundaries.
Shubman Gill scored 74 runs on 63 deliveries including 6 boundaries and 2 sixes and was sent out by Zampa. While Shreyas Iyer was dismissed with 3 runs on run out, Suryakumar Yadav scored 50 runs and was sent out by Abbott.
Ishan Kishan scored 18 runs and was sent out by Pat Cummins. With KL Rahul’s unbeaten 58 runs, India scored 281 runs in the 49th over losing 5 wickets.
Mohammed Shami showed his intensified bowling skills as he scalped 5 wickets and was awarded with Player of the Match. He said, “The heat does play a factor. We are human beings after all. It can take a toll on your body but after playing international cricket for such a long, I am habituated to handling such conditions. When the wickets are unresponsive, you have to put in that extra effort with the ball so you will naturally see fast bowlers bowling shorter spells because of that,” after post-match conference.
Mohammed Shami said he used to practice at home. He was playing in all three formats due to which he thinks workload management is necessary.
“That break after the WTC final was necessary as I had been playing non-stop cricket for 6-7 months. I felt that my body needed some rest. I had a discussion with the coach and captain and then we decided that I should take a break. But my rest doesn’t feel like rest because I end up practising more at home. The kind of set-up I have at my home, I practice more compared to when I am with the Indian team,” he said.
“The coach plays a crucial role in rotating the players according to the conditions. It also depends on the opposition. I don’t think we need to play back-to-back matches before the World Cup and as you can see we are also getting the results, so there is no need to change the plans,” he concluded.
With leading the series 1-0, India is set to play their 2nd ODI against Australia on September 24, at Holkar Stadium.
