Reliving Mohammed Shami’s Ten Mighty Balls That Shook Ben Stokes

Man of the moment, indeed

There’s so much to say about Mohammed Shami, but what really stands out is his tranquillity and an unassuming, effortlessly elite quality of taking the cricket ball and making it dance to his instructions—the embodiment of master-slave dialectics, where the ball just can’t deviate even one degree from its path that he has conjured up in his mind. Even the most disruptive sight of stumps flying around is infused with a sense of order if done by Shami. These innate virtues were on display last night against defending champions England. He came soon after two wickets had fallen down, and triggered an epic collapse to sink England by taking out Ben Stokes with an immaculate setup, straight out of Test cricket.

Those ten balls that Shami bowled to Stokes were the highlight of the game, a rousing duel between two men whose idea of cricket is as different as it could be. Where Shami is all about method and control, Ben Stokes is the corporeal form of madness, the man who has a history of coming up good in such hopeless situations. And for the course of those ten balls, both of them lived by their philosophy. After leaving the first ball that shaped away from him, Stokes, aiming to disrupt the momentum, charged down the ground but couldn’t get the desired connect, the ball passing swiftly to the gloves of KL Rahul and prompting collective “Oooh” from Shami and his allies. The next two balls didn’t produce any different outcome. Stokes tried to steer it towards point and flick it towards midwicket, only to get beaten and pinned on his pads.

This was just the beginning of how things would be shaping up: Shami would stick to his method, while Stokes would keep trying to throw him off. There’s no deception to the art of Shami; it’s as simple as it could be, but the simplicity should not be conflated with his shortcomings or the ease for his opponents. It’s by choice that Shami has stripped his craft to the bare essentials. Shami isn’t the most flamboyant character in the team, but the sight of him bowling and beating the batsman is just as flamboyant as anything in cricket.

When Shami came on to bowl his next over, he knew Stokes would look to attack, but the knowledge didn’t really compel him to deviate from his original plans. Shami would come in and hit the good-length band, and Stokes kept playing shots out of pure desperation. He hits one to a man at mid-off, punches another towards cover, and flicks one to mid-on when Shami goes full on his pads. After nine balls, all against Shami, Stokes had nothing to show for on the scorecard. Rarely had the English talisman looked so clueless on the pitch. Every time he had wanted to assert himself over Shami, he either found a fielder or missed it.

The game, meanwhile, wasn’t over by any stretch. England had lost a couple of early wickets, but the modest target was still within their realms. England had been a massive disappointment, sitting at the bottom of the points table, but they were still good enough to turn up and win such games. Moreover, as the night set in, dew started to make its presence felt. It’s never easy to hit your spot in such a situation. England knew if they could pass the pacers’ storm without losing any more wickets, they could very well be back in the game. Ben Stokes too knew this, but his mindset had been totally altered by the nine dots that he played against Shami. Stokes doesn’t believe there’s anything such as a “bad shot”. It’s all about execution. If it comes off, you get lauded. If it doesn’t, you get reviled. Of course, you expect Stokes to do things that are not ideal in certain states. Stokes has made a career out of doing things that you’re not supposed to. The shot choice is only ever bad when it’s out,” he had said this year. “You might try the same exact shot at another ball, catch it sweetly and it sails over the rope for a four or six, and then no one will say anything.”

After nine balls and zero runs, the switch flicked and Stokes decided to waltz down the ground for a crazy swing of his arms. The trade-off was pretty straightforward, between sending the ball across the boundary or himself to the dressing room. The ball pitched miles away from Stokes and moved inwards dangerously to crash into his stumps. Shami won the contest.

Shami, however, was not done yet. He would then wipe off Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali in his next three overs to push England onto the verge of their fifth defeat in six matches. Shami has added a sense of relentlessness to this bowling attack, where the opponents rarely get a breathing space. The reward for getting through the initial spell of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah is no longer Hardik Pandya or Shardul Thakur. It’s Mohammed Shami, who brings with himself a totally different set of challenges. Welcome to the fast bowling pit!

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