Team India fast bowler opens up about horrific experience during Ranji selection trials

Mohammed Shami, the fast bowler for Team India, recently disclosed that, when he was younger, he wasn't very excited about playing cricket in the heat. Shami said he would rather sit beneath a tree than go to bouts with his brother.

Shami said that he would play on the pitch only after dusk. In a Puma interview, the pacer recalled his early years. He said, "I come from a family with a political background. My father introduced the cricket culture to our village in the 1990s. Nobody knew about the sport before that. My brother also played a lot of cricket. So, I just used to watch them. I wondered who would play cricket in this heat? I would sit under a tree and watch the game. When the sun was about to set, I would enter the ground."

Mohammed Shami has been in Uttar Pradesh since his birth. But West Bengal is where his domestic cricket career began. He disclosed that he made the decision to go to Kolkata as a result of selectors in Uttar Pradesh purposefully ignoring him.

The Gujarat Titans pacer said, "1600 guys turned up for the Ranji Trophy trials, and they selectors had to assess them in just three days. I was ignored for a couple of years. Once my brother went to have a world with the chief selector.”

“It was my last day in Uttar Pradesh” : Mohammed Shami 

Mohammed Shami spoke about when he and his family decided to not take part in the Uttar Pradesh Ranji trials anymore. He would then go on to play for West Bengal and move to Kolkata. It was from there, his bowling started to become noticed and he got selected for India.

The Team India pacer said, "The selector told my brother that I would never get selected till he was there. My brother tore the form and it was my last day in Uttar Pradesh. After that, I moved to Kolkata."