Sunil Gavaskar recounted the story of how Ravi Shastri helped Mohammed Shami reach his full potential

While Jasprit Bumrah was India’s top performer on Day 2 of the Cape Town Test between the two sides, Mohammed Shami’s devastating spell in the afternoon session had a lot to do with the Men in Blue’s 13-run first-innings lead. Shami prevented India from winning the match by striking twice in an over, breaking the partnership between Temba Bavuma and Keegan Petersen.

The turnaround in Shima’s career hasn’t been amazing in the last few years. However, the Indian pacer’s turnaround was triggered by India’s tour of South Africa. A revealing story of Shami’s coming of age was told by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. Shami’s brilliant showing at the Newlands Stadium on Wednesday may have been partly inspired by watching his fellow pacers get wickets, Gavaskar pointed out.

‘He cannot be stopped from participating for a long time when he is of his caliber. Yadav had taken a few wickets, Bumrah had taken two wickets, and he had seen Yadav bowl. That motivated him. He came in and bowled when it was needed. “It was a joy to watch Bavuma and Petersen partner up, but it was also threatening India, so they needed a wicket at that point, which Shami delivered,” he concluded.