Mohammed Shami heaps praises on Virat Kohli, hails him for being a bowler's captain

Indian captain Virat Kohli’s affinity towards fast bowlers is well known. Under his leadership, a huge crop of fast bowlers have emerged from every nooks and corner of the country. Led by Jasprit Bumrah, India’s fast bowling unit looks lethal and has the quality to dismantle any batting line-up on its own. 

Workhorse Ishant Sharma and a dynamic Mohammed Shami form one of the best bowling pairs in the world. With bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Natarajan still waiting in the fringes, the future of Indian fast bowling looks in good hands. 

The emergence of a potent fast bowling unit has resulted in back to back Test series victories in Australia and rising through the ranks in places like England, New Zealand and South Africa. The performances of the fast bowling cartel in the last three years have been nothing short of phenomenal. 

Shami, who is one of the integral parts of the Indian red ball setup feels that the consistency of their performance has gone up considerably due to the sort of confidence and freedom given to them by skipper Virat Kohli. 

"It is also indeed a phase which you can maybe attribute to the luck of this Indian team or hard work. But Virat has always been supportive of his fast bowlers while also giving us freedom on the ground. He only jumps in when our plans fail, otherwise, we're free as a bowling unit to do as we please. He has always been very supportive," Shami told Cricbuzz.

While there has been a preconceived notion about Kohli being a bit too rude to his bowlers at time. However, Shami explained how the skipper of the national team never makes others feel like he is the captain of the team or he is above anyone in the team. He added that it is because of Kohli and the freedom which he gives them which keeps the mood light and jovial in the dressing room which in turn works for India on the field. 

“As far as our fast-bowling unit or I am concerned as an individual, he has never put any undue pressure on any of us. Usually, there's a doubt in a bowler's mind before he approaches his captain. That has never been the case with Virat. He has no air about himself. He jokes around with us, behaves as if he's our childhood friend," Shami quipped.

"This leads to a lot of fun on the ground too. Sometimes there's fun banter, sometimes we also end up saying aggressive things to each other but we never mind it because it happens in the heat of the moment,” the fast bowler concluded.

The fast bowling cartel will be crucial to India’s chances in the ICC World Test Championship final followed by the five-match Test series against England. India will meet New Zealand in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final starting 18th June at Southampton.