Indian women’s team opener, Smriti Mandhana, during a recent interaction, recalled the incident when she got hit by one of the deliveries from Mohammed Shami.
The Indian pace spearhead bowled to Mandhana during his rehab period and vowed not to bowl at his usual pace and at her body.
“I remember playing Shami bhaiyya (Mohammed Shami) when his doing his rehab. He was bowling at a 120 waala pace (mph) to me and promised that he wouldn’t bowl on my body,” Mandhana said during a YouTube show ‘Double Trouble’.
After missing out on a couple of deliveries, Shami went on to bowl an incoming delivery which hit Mandhana on the inner thigh. As a result, the bruise received by Mandhana turned ‘black, blue and green’ as mentioned by her in a jovial tone.
“I was beaten for the first two balls as I was not used to the pace. On the third ball, his in-dipper hit me on my inner thigh and it turned black, blue, and green and was swollen for 10 days,” added Mandhana.
This is not the first time an Indian cricketer spilled beans on Shami’s antics during net sessions. India’s premier opening batter Rohit Sharma also talked about Shami rubbing hands after seeing extra green and moisture on the practice pitches.
“The pitches we have for net sessions are almost always green with moisture. And whenever Shami sees a green pitch, he eats extra biryani! Bumrah is also difficult but he has been around only for two-three years.” Rohit said earlier.
According to Rohit, Mohammad Shami is one of the trickiest bowlers to face during the nets. Further, Rohit discussed the competition between Shami and his Mumbai Indians teammate Jasprit Bumrah for hitting the maximum number of balls on the helmet.
“Shami, I have been playing since 2013. But yeah, right now there must be a competition going on between Bumrah and Shami, on who beats the bat most, who can hit the most on the helmets,” concluded Rohit.
