India pacer Mohammed Shami
Returning to the Test fold after a long injury lay-off, India speedster Mohammed Shami feels red-ball cricket is all about 'line and lengths'. Shami will be a crucial part of the Indian pace contingent in the four-month long England tour comprising the much-awaited World Test Championship final against New Zealand and a five-Test series against the Three Lions.
With a bolstered pace attack, more potent than ever, India will hope to fare well in English conditions. For the gruelling series in England, Shami will be joined by the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur.
Shami, who is just 20 plucks away from becoming the fifth India pacer to reach 200 wickets in Test cricket, after Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, and Ishant Sharma, said the line remains primarily around the top of off stump or the fourth stump with the red cherry.
In an exclusive interview with India TV, Shami said, "Red ball cricket is all about line and lengths. If you're able to control it, you're bound to succeed, especially at a place like the UK. The weather is good there so it's some assistance as well. As Kapil paaji (Kapil Dev) says, you need to find the line and length. It is important to set your channels right.
"In my last series in England, I had a good outing. I didn't take many wickets but I think I controlled my lengths very well. I believe that in Test matches, it is more about the lengths you bowl at because the line remains primarily around the top of off stump or the fourth stump."
"You need to assess the pitch conditions well, like bounce and carry, and keep your lengths accordingly. When you play international cricket for so long, you get an idea about playing around with lengths on different surfaces. So that is going to be one of the key factors in England," Shami, who has 180 wickets from 50 Tests, said further.
On New Zealand being better prepared for the WTC final, the 30-year-old pacer said that the Indian team will try to get accustomed to English conditions as soon as possible.
"We're all practicing. We've been playing the whole year, so we have the rhythm. There won't be a big difference, our players have been in the nets and we will have two weeks' time before the game too.
"We are not thinking too much about it. Of course, everyone is talking about the final. But we, as a unit, are solely focussing on acclimatizing to the conditions as quickly as possible," said Shami.
