‘Ab humko chahiye full izzat’ – Fans react as Mohammed Shami surpasses Virat Kohli in terms of hitting sixes in Tests

India’s fast bowler Mohammed Shami impressed many fans with his batting in the first match of the four-match Test series at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur between India and Australia on Saturday, February 11. Meanwhile, Shami went ahead of Virat Kohli by hitting more sixes than Virat Kohli in Tests. Kohli has 24 sixes in Test cricket, while Shami now has 25 sixes.

With this, Shami also came ahead of Indian head coach Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara in terms of hitting sixes. Rahul Dravid has 21 sixes in Test cricket while Cheteshwar Pujara has hit only 15 sixes so far. Shami came to bat at no.10, and although everyone was expecting him to hit some big shots, he ended up playing a better inning as he scored 37 runs off 47 deliveries, which included 2 fours and 3 sixes. He stitched a crucial 52-run stand with Axar Patel for the 10^th wicket.

Rohit Sharma’s brilliant century

Ravindra Jadeja and Axar took the game away from Australia, exposing the lack of a fifth bowler in the final session of the 2^nd day of the first Test. However, the 88-run stand between the two left-handers was broken by debutant Todd Murphy as Jadeja looked to leave the ball but it came in with the arm and crashes into the off stump. Jadeja made an error in judgment, the ball slid in off a length and knocked him over.

Earlier, Australia opted to bat first after winning the toss and managed to score only 177 runs in the first innings. No Australian batter could even score a fifty on the Nagpur pitch. Marnus Labuschagne was the highest scorer for the Kangaroos with 49 runs. Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin took no time to clear up the tailenders.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma smashed a brilliant century in the second innings on Day 2. He also became the only Indian captain to smash a century in all three formats. However, no other batter could keep the other end safe as India kept losing wickets before Jadeja and Axar steadied the ship.

Here’s how fans reacted: