NEW DELHI: Mohammed Shami played a pivotal role in dismantling New Zealand's chase, claiming a remarkable seven-wicket haul. The Indian pacer revealed on Wednesday that his strategy involved taking the pace off the ball to induce the opposition batters into making shots.
Shami's extraordinary performance, with figures of 7 for 57, marked the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler in ODI history. Additionally, the 33-year-old achieved the milestone of 50 wickets in the tournament, accomplishing this feat in just 17 games.
"We talk a lot about variations, but I still believe in pitching it up and getting wickets with the new ball. But the focus was to try and take the pace off, see if they're hitting it in the air. It was a chance we had to take," said Shami, who bagged the player of the match award, in the post-match presentation.
Nevertheless, Shami conceded that the Indian team harboured concerns about the dew factor later in the evening.
"The wicket was very good, lots of runs were scored in the afternoon. There was some fear of dew, the grass had been shaved off from the wicket.
"If dew was there, it skids on and there's a chance runs could've been made," he added.
Shami found a place in the playing 11 after an injury to Hardik Pandya, and the pacer said he was waiting for his chance to make an entry into the side.
"I was waiting for my chances. I didn't play a lot of white-ball cricket. My return started against New Zealand (in Dharamsala)," he said.
However, Shami added that he felt terrible dropping New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, and was relieved that his lapse did not hurt India.
However, all's well that ends well and Shami said it felt amazing to enter the World Cup final.
"It feels amazing. During the last two World Cups, we lost in the semifinals. Who knows when or if we'll get a chance (to play another WC), so we wanted to do everything for this.
"This one chance we didn't want to let go. Everything for this," he concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)
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