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Mohammed Shami’s absence was heavily felt during India vs South Africa first Test. The Indian cricket team pacers leaked runs as South Africa batter piled on runs. Jasprit Bumrah did not have proper support as the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur failed to live up to the expectations. Mohammed Shami, Cricket World Cup 2023’s highest wicket-taker, could have been handy in such a situation. However, he is nursing an injury and missed the series.

In a report titled, “Prasidh’s performance hints at bare bench strength” news agency PTI revealed that Shami played the World Cup with pain.

“Shami has a chronic left heel issue. A lot of people don’t know that he took injections regularly during World Cup and played the entire tournament through pain. But you must understand that as you grow older, recovery from each niggle or big injury takes that more time,” a former Bengal teammate of Shami, aware of his situation told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

Mohammed Shami opened up on the Men in Blue’s six-wicket loss against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final match and said that the nation was disappointed after the defeat. While speaking to the press, Shami said that the hosts gave their best to continue the momentum throughout the tournament and win the final match.

The 33-year-old added that they cannot explain where they went wrong during the final match of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia.

“The whole nation was disappointed (when India lost the World Cup). We tried hundred per cent to continue the momentum till the end that we had created and win the final. But…it cannot be explained, where we went wrong at the end…,” Shami said.

After India’s loss, PM Narendra Modi met the players in the dressing room and comforted them. The video of that meeting was widely shared. In that meeting, PM Modi hugged Shami and congratulated him for his performance. That video went viral on social media and grabbed mixed reactions from the viewers.

In an interview with Aaj Tak on Wednesday, Shami revealed that the Indian cricket team players were not ready for the PM’s visit as it came as a surprise for them.

“We were heartbroken after the loss and were sitting dejectedly. It was like our hard work of two months got negated due to just one match. It was our bad day and we were dejected but when the PM enters, you have to keep your head high. We were not even told that Modiji was coming there and suddenly he entered. Earlier, we were not even in the mood to eat and talk to each other but when he came, it was such a big surprise for us,” said Shami.