The thing about Mohit Sharma is that he doesn’t look like a fast bowler. He’s tall by Indian standards but not very tall; he’s built reasonably well but he’s not greatly muscled; and when he starts from his bowling mark, with that stooping, hopping run-up, batsmen don’t exactly see a steam train rushing in. And that, sometimes, is what gets them.
Hashim Amla found out at the MCG last week, when he received a short ball that was somewhat quicker than Mohit’s previous deliveries. The South African pulled, only for the ball to skim off the top edge and into fine leg’s hands. Mohit does not bowl express pace but he has a way of appearing innocuous before slipping in something a little faster and sharper.
As India’s first-change bowler at the World Cup, he has qualities that have dovetailed neatly with those of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.
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Mohit bowls steady, metronomic stuff, in the channel outside off-stump, and surprises batsmen with the odd slower ball and the bouncer.
Against Pakistan, Yadav went for 23 from his three overs before he was pulled from the attack. On came Mohit and sent down his first four overs for 12 runs. M.S. Dhoni likes having a safe, reliable bowler he can fall back on.
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“Mohit has been really consistent with his line and length, which I feel is the key for him,” Dhoni said later. “He has that variation of pace. He uses the bounce so well. So far he has proved himself.”
Dhoni knows Mohit well, having overseen his excellent 2013 season with CSK in the IPL. The Haryana bowler subsequently earned an India call-up on the strength of those performances.
Andy Bichel, the former Australia quick and CSK bowling coach, is impressed with what he has seen of Mohit at the World Cup.
“He’s always improving,” says Bichel. “What delivery to bowl is as important as when to bowl it, and he’s picking that up. He has the skills to bowl all the balls — good length, back of a length, yorker, wide yorker, bouncer, slower-ball bouncer, back of the hand slower-ball. But it’s important to know how to use them.”
Bank on the bouncerThe bouncer, Bichel reveals, is something Mohit has spent a lot of time developing.
“He’s definitely worked on it a lot,” he says. “I’ve always told him to bowl a bouncer even if it means the ball going a bit higher. You’re better off being higher than shorter. I’ve always said to him — nothing less than a bouncer that’s chest-high. He has a good build to bowl the bouncer. The new rules give you two new balls and that helps too.”
When the squad for the World Cup was announced, Mohit was turning out for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy. That morning, in fact, he took a hat-trick against Delhi in Lahli.
He did not find a spot in the 15, but he was in the squad for the Carlton Mid ODI series, clearly as back-up for anyone from the World Cup group that might get injured.
Ishant Sharma’s unfortunate withdrawal handed Mohit an opportunity and he demonstrated, against England in the triangular series in Perth, that he had added to his pace.
“That’s something he’s always working on, getting stronger and fitter,” says Bichel. “He’s pushing the high 130s now and the odd time getting to the 140s. It’s only when they drop to the early 130s that they’re not as competitive.” That extra yard has hurried batsmen and made the 26-year-old more incisive than he otherwise may have been.
It would be unwise to draw too many conclusions from a career that’s only 15 one-day matches old but Mohit has shown ability and common sense.
“He’s a guy who wants to do well,” says Bichel. “He works hard at his cricket. He was always going to have to work hard. Sometimes hard work pays off.”