Dubai, Feb 22: Mohammed Shami, who has for long used the white ball like a weapon of mass destruction in ICC events, on Thursday said grabbing wickets is his primary aim in global tournaments and “doesn’t care about getting hit” for runs.Shami marked his return to ICC tournament with an exceptional five-for while also becoming the fastest Indian and the second quickest overall to reach 200 ODI wickets during India’s six-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their Champions Trophy opener here.
“In ICC events, I don’t care about getting hit, I want to get wickets. I just go for wickets. I don’t care about the economy rate at all. I spent eight hours (a day) in NCA. I had the hunger. Unless and until you have hunger, you cannot achieve your goal,” Shami said at the post-match press conference.
Shami, who wondered if he would again get to play international cricket during his long recovery phase from injury, grabbed 5/53 to help India bowl out Bangladesh for 228 and set it up for the likes of Shubman Gill (101), Rohit Sharma (41) and KL Rahul (41) to complete a fine win.
“It was tough after 14 months, the comeback. It pinches, it hurts. I got the opportunity to practice in domestic (cricket) that resulted in such a performance.
“After winning, you stay in full confidence. Mindset will remain the same against Pakistan. No problem at all,” the champion seamer said of the much-awaited February 23 clash against the traditional rivals.