Mohammed Shami has been a menacing force with the ball, unleashing his explosiveness to bamboozle batters left, right and centre in the ongoing World Cup.
Hardik Pandya's injury turned out to be a stroke of luck for the Indian team as Shami, who was otherwise not playing, eventually got the chance, and seems like, he has become the most important cog in the Indian team's machinery that is steadily paving the way to put an end to the long wait of winning an ICC trophy.
Shami in just 3 games has picked 14 wickets for India and is the 2nd highest wicket-taker for the country in the tournament. With his spell-binding figures of 5/18 against Sri Lanka, the pacer broke a plethora of records as India registered their 7th straight win in the event.
Taking his tally to 45, Shami overtook Zaheer Khan to become India's highest wicket-taker in the showpiece event. He now also has the most 5-wicket hauls for India in ODIs at 4. It was also his third 5-fer in World Cups and he has now equalled Mitchell Starc's record of most 5-wkt hauls in World Cup history.
Shami who looks like the protagonist of this World Cup, in his first game vs New Zealand, shone with figures of 5/54 and in the following game vs England he picked a 4-wicket haul. He went on to showcase his strength vs Sri Lanka too, making him evidently indispensable for Team India going forth.