Irfan Pathan’s enraged reply to a journalist’s slur on Mohammed Shami

• Image Credit: Internet

• Apr 3, 2022 | admin

On that night, Mohammed Shami returned with statistics of 3.5-0-43-0 in a losing cause, as Virat Kohli’s side were thrashed by their arch-rivals by a 10-wicket thumping

Digital Desk: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan chastised a journalist for making a veiled dig at Mohammed Shami, who was praised in Pathan’s tweet. Pathan praised Shami for his outstanding performance for his IPL side Gujarat Titans against the Lucknow Super Giants on March 28.

Shami, 31, threw an energising new ball spell against the Super Giants, striking out three batters within the powerplay to set the tone for his team’s triumph. He struck with the opening ball of the game, getting an edge of Super Giants skipper KL Rahul on a peach before cheaply dismissing both Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey in the following overs.

The Super Giants were so seriously damaged by his unrelenting burst that, despite half-centuries from Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni, they could only register a par total of 158/6, which the Titans finally chased down with five wickets and two balls to spare.

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Shami’s Test-like bowling and probing lines and lengths with the white ball were enough to attract everyone’s attention, one of those being Pathan, who tweeted: “There are not many in World Cricket who uses new ball better than Mohammed shami!”.

Replying to his tweet on March 31, a journalist wrote: “THEY CAN’T PLAY HIM”, an apparent jibe at Shami, who went wicketless against Pakistan when India faced them at the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE in October last year. Mincing no words, Pathan retorted: “In 2003 World Cup, Wasim Akram (Legend) couldn’t beat Sachin Tendulkar’s (Legend) bat. Does it mean he couldn’t bowl?? #sasteexperts”.

On that night, Mohammed Shami returned with statistics of 3.5-0-43-0 in a losing cause, as Virat Kohli’s side were thrashed by their arch-rivals by a 10-wicket thumping, ending their unblemished 12-0 record against them in World Cups. Notably, Shami was harassed on social media for his religion in the aftermath of India’s historic defeat.

In sharp contrast to what happened in Dubai‘s night sky against Pakistan, Shami was at the pinnacle of his bowling skills against the Super Giants, walking away with the Player of the Match title for his 3/25.