India vs Australia: Mohammed Shami on cusp of breaking Ajit Agarkar’s 18-year-old record

Team India are in desperate need of a victory as they are on the verge of losing their sixth straight match when they take on Australia in Canberra in the 3rd ODI of the series which has already been pocketed by the hosts. For India to avoid a consecutive series whitewash, they need their bowlers to finally come good.

While the entire attention has been on the poor form of premier paceman Jasprit Bumrah, the performance of the dependable Mohammed Shami has also not been up to the mark. Shami was the best Indian bowler on show in the first match as he picked up 3 wickets and had an economy of under 6 runs per over when the others were taken for plenty.

But he was off colour in the second match and that resulted in the Aussies piling an even bigger score. Shami though would want to set things right along with his teammates in Canberra as India will look to salvage some pride.

Shami’s rise over the past couple of years across all formats has been a huge story for Indian cricket, but it has been somewhat overshadowed by the meteoric rise of Bumrah, who is hailed as one of the best of this generation globally.

But this attention on Bumrah and his prowess has meant Shami’s great record has gone unnoticed. He has been a consistent performer in ODI cricket and is just two wickets away from breaking a long standing record held by Ajit Agarkar.

Shami, who has 148 wickets in just 79 ODIs, could become the fastest Indian to reach the milestone of 150 ODI wickets if he gets a brace in Canberra. That would also make him the third fastest bowler to the feat, with only Australian Mitchell Starc (77 matches) and Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq (79) ahead of him.

Shami is all but guaranteed to become the fastest Indian to the landmark as Agarkar reached the milestone in 97 matches.

India need a big hearted performance from Shami to get the better of the rampaging Australian batsmen and the pacer would have an eye on this record too.