About 150 km from Delhi, a narrow road leads to Amruha from National Highway 9.
There are sugarcane fields on both sides of this road. About a kilometer from the highway, a farmhouse surrounded by tall white walls stands out.
It is the home of Indian cricketer Mohammad Shami but these four walls tell the story of his incredible fame and success.
Born in the quiet village of Sahaspur Alinagar in Amroha and spent his boyhood playing cricket with tennis balls on dirt fields, Mohammad Shami has made a stir in the ICC World Cup 2023.
He has taken five, four, five, two, zero and six wickets respectively in six matches which makes a total of 23 wickets.
This is an extraordinary performance for any bowler and he is just four wickets away from Mitchell Starc’s World Cup record of 27 wickets.
Sahaspur Alinagar village is now thronged with journalists and the villagers too have many stories to tell about Mohammad Shami.
The people of the village call Muhammad Shami as ‘Sami Bhai’. When Simi was young, his father Taseef Ali used to play cricket in the village.
Muhammad Juma, a resident of Sahaspur, said, “Tawseef was the one who brought cricket to this village.” In those days we used to listen to the commentary on the radio, from there the passion for cricket was born, Taseef brought a cricket kit and built a pitch in the village.
“Sammy was groomed as an extra fielder from a very young age, he ran very fast,” recalls Juma. Then he started bowling, if there was no one to play with, he would bowl alone.
There is an old graveyard in the village right next to Muhammad Shami’s house. Now there are tall bushes, but when the Syrians were learning to play cricket, there used to be a pitch nearby.
Shami’s balls wreaked havoc on this rough pitch.
Telling about them, Juma says that the village had its own cricket team. Shami’s elder brother Haseeb was also an all-rounder. Kids of that era were interested in joining the police and army, cricket was good for fitness, so we had a strong team.
Mohammad Shami made his mark with his pace. People used to gather in large numbers to watch him play in cricket tournaments held in the area.
“The village fields were getting smaller for these players,” says Juma. Matches were played against city teams.
One day while playing in Moradabad’s Sonakpur Stadium, coach Badruddin noticed Shami and he called Shami to practice in the stadium.
This was the turning point in Mohammad Shami’s career. Now they had a field, a coach and a big dream to reach the next level.
Coach Badruddin was also impressed with Shami’s pace. It was he who encouraged Shami to go to Kolkata for further training.
But today Badruddin is also surprised to see Shami’s performance. “We knew that the Syrians would advance, but no one thought that they would perform so well,” Badruddin says. Today, Syrians are the best bowlers in the world.
Explaining the reason behind Shami’s success, Badruddin says, “He is bowling with the best seam position. His seed position is currently the best in the world.
“Their methodology is simple, which is their greatest strength, and that is what they are focusing on.” They throw the ball in one spot and get the swing from there.
His ball is getting both seam and swing. For this reason, even the best batsmen in the world seem confused in front of him.
Badruddin attributes Shami’s historic performance to his hard work. He says that he never stopped practicing, he always worked hard. What is being seen in the World Cup is the result of the hard work they have been doing for many years.
The grounds of the polytechnic college being built outside Sahaspur Alinagar village is also a playground for the children of the village. In this field of green grass and flat pitch, many village boys are playing cricket in the afternoon.
Muhammad Shami has inspired an entire generation of youth and that includes the boys in his village.
Munir is also a fast bowler and he said that seeing Sami Bhai we are also playing. We feel that if he can do it, one day we can too.
This is the only ground in the village but now pits are being dug in it to construct a new building.
There are no sports facilities here yet. Munir says that with or without facilities we will play and if we bowl like Simi bhai then we will also get a place somewhere.
After the excellent performance of Muhammad Shami in the World Cup, now the Amroha district administration is going to build a stadium here.
Amroha District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar Tyagi says, “We have sent a proposal to the government to build a small stadium in Mohammad Shami’s village and the work will start as soon as we get the approval.”
“We have identified the land and informed the district authorities about it. He has also visited the village.
Players like Muneer are happy that because of Mohammad Shami, a stadium will be built in the village and other facilities will be available.
Along with this, political parties are also making announcements to develop sports facilities in this village. Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary has said that he wants to develop sports facilities in Mohammad Shami’s village with his parliamentary fund.
On the other hand, there is a happy atmosphere at Mohammad Shami’s house. Dozens of journalists have reached here from Delhi and are interviewing Shami’s family one by one.
Shami’s elder brother Haseeb says, “When Shami took five wickets, I thought in my heart that one day he would take six or seven wickets. Now Shami has accomplished this feat, the whole area is happy about it.”
Haseeb himself used to play cricket. He says, ‘Our father used to play cricket, seeing him, both of our brothers became fond of cricket, Shami had speed, the family paid attention to his training, only one of the two brothers could be sent. , Shami is gone and the results are coming out today.’
Haseeb could not go to Wankhede Stadium to watch the match as he had planned to watch the final.
“We were sure India would win the match, so we wanted to go to Ahmedabad, but now we regret not seeing the semi-final at Wankhede,” says Haseeb. We could not see this historical performance in the field.
Haseeb has now gone to Ahmedabad to watch the match with his family. “We are as proud of Shami as every Indian today,” he says.
Despite the ups and downs in his personal life, Mohammad Shami remained focused on the sport and never gave up his practice.
Haseeb says that he practices every day between 2 pm and 10 pm, during which time he does not talk to anyone. Whatever happens, he never gives up his practice. This constant, unceasing hard work is the reason for his success.
Mohammad Shami’s personality is very shy, he rarely talks to people. Haseeb says that he does not speak, he just smiles. Even when he comes here, he rarely goes out.’
Shami’s mother Anjum Ara has no interest in cricket. She is happy for her son’s success and is praying before the final match.