"Proud I am Indian, Muslim": Mohammed Shami On Gesture After 5-Wicket World Cup Haul

Mohammed Shami missed the first four matches that the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team played, but still took 24 wickets in seven games - the most by anyone in the 2023 Cricket World Cup

Mohammed Shami took the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 by storm, quite literally. The fast bowler missed the first four matches that the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team played, but still took 24 wickets in seven matches - the most by anyone in 2023 edition. The 33-year-old pacer from Uttar Pradesh took three five-wicket hauls. Among the many records that he broke during the course of the World Cup, one that stood out was the seven-wicket haul that he took against New Zealand in the semi-final. It's the best-ever figures by an Indian in ODI cricket.

However, there was one social media storm that brewed after India's match against Sri Lanka, where Mohammed Shami took a five-wicket haul. After he took the fifth wicket at the Wankhede stadium in the round-robin stage match, he kneeled on the ground. Some social media users took the gesture in a different way and made an issue out of it. Mohammed Shami was asked about the same in an interview on Wednesday.

"There was one match where you took five wickets and then kneeled on the ground. Then from Pakistan, on social media, there came posts that said 'Mohammed Shami is an Indian Muslim. He wants to do Sajda (prayer), but he was afraid to do it in India'" the anchor asked Mohammed Shami on Aaj Tak.