Pacer has bounced back from injuries and personal problems in past, and is mentally tough enough to handle latest attack on him on social media
A game of cricket can be won or lost, and it hardly matters beyond a day or two. But hate lingers. Like the smell of rot that cannot be hidden by the perfumes of Arabia.
The unprecedented online attack, because of his faith, on Mohammed Shami, who didn’t do well like all his team members against Pakistan, could be bad enough to break him.

You probably cannot question the premier all-format paceman if he says ‘enough is enough’ and decides to walk from the game in the middle of a World Cup after this brutal attack. But if you know Shami, you can be rest assured, he won’t.

The Uttar Pradesh native, who went to Kolkata as a young boy to make a living as a cricketer, is nothing if not a fighter. Be it injuries, religious bigotry, family issues or weight problems – Shami has always been on a very difficult road from the time the arclights have been on him. In 2016, Shami was the subject of attack of Muslim fundamentalists just because he had posted a picture of his wife without a burqa. Two years down the line, his personal life went for a toss and there was a point where it seemed his international career could be over.
It was right after that tumultuous phase in his life that he went to England and faced the media after bowling a brilliant spell at Edgbaston. Even the Indian media was a little apologetic about asking him the inevitable question but Shami almost took it upon himself to talk about it. “The problems in my personal life gave me the strength to fight even harder to prove myself on the field,” Shami said. He walked the talk.

And now, it’s a filthy attack just because a section of the Indian cricket consumers didn’t have a Sunday evening that they had envisaged for themselves.
The fact that Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan, who tore into Shami with the bat on Sunday, tweeted on Tuesday: “The kind of pressure, struggles & sacrifices a player has to go through for his country & his people is immeasurable. @Md-Shami11 is a star & indeed (one) of the best bowlers in the world. Please respect your stars. This game should bring people together & not divide ’em #Shami #PAKvIND,” may add to the fuel of the bigots.

But the team management, hopefully, knows the importance of Shami and they will probably try their best to keep the paceman away from it.
At least mentor MS Dhoni would. He, as captain, had convinced a half-fit Shami to play through pain in the 2015 ODI World Cup which aggravated his injury and consequently he missed a year of international cricket. For India’s sake!

And that brings us to the least important part of the entire Shami narrative – his current T20 form. He gave away 43 runs off his four overs against Pakistan and that led to an argument that the paceman isn’t suited for T20s.
Shami’s recent record in IPL, though, suggests something else. In six matches for Punjab Kings in UAE, Shami took 11 wickets at an average of 14.64 and an economy rate of 6.71. So, if current form has to be taken into account, Shami, along with Jasprit Bumrah, will be the two bowlers who will walk into the team every day.
But it’s his mind that must have taken the beating and we will know in a week’s time whether he has coped with it.