India pacer Mohammed Shami is one of the most lethal seam bowlers going around in modern-day cricket. Be it with a red ball or white ball, Shami has been a prolific wicket-taker. There was a time when Shami was going through a tough phase both personally and professionally but has been a different beast since 2018.
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Former India captain Virat Kohli has been a major force behind making India a tremendous Test outfit. He has been one of those leaders who always backed his pacers. Shami has been an important name in India’s Test setup and he shares a great bond as well with Kohli.
Instagram Live was a popular thing during COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Shami was doing a session with India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal where he revealed that he bonds better with Kohli as compared to current captain Rohit Sharma.
Mohammed Shami Once Revealed Why He Prefers a Phone Call with Virat Kohli over Rohit Sharma
Shami had said that he doesn’t talk with Sharma on the phone at all as he can’t connect with him much. However, he shares jokes with Kohli and can also be on a phone call with him anytime he wants. Shami even said that he can share stuff outside cricket as well with Kohli.
“I don’t interact much with Rohit [Sharma] on calls. Don’t know [why] but Rohit and I hardly even bond on jokes etc. Though we had debuted in Test together. With Virat [Kohli], we both talk on all sorts of things [music taste or any joke]. We even interact quite often over the phone. Hence, I will go towards Virat in this case. It is not because he is the captain but we bond in a much better way,” Shami had told Chahal back in the day.
Interestingly, both Shami and Sharma made their Test debuts together against West Indies a decade ago. Sharma played a brilliant knock of 177 runs in that match, whereas Shami scalped nine wickets which included a five-wicket haul.
Mohammed Shami Record Under Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Shami has thrived under Kohli and has scalped over 252 wickets in international cricket under his regime. Although, his sample size under Sharma is quite small but he has not been that impressive as compared to the former.
| Captain | Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike-Rate | 5W |
| Virat Kohli | 98 | 252 | 26.22 | 3.82 | 41.00 | 6 |
| Rohit Sharma | 22 | 33 | 28.81 | 4.75 | 36.30 | 0 |
