Shami on hat-trick: Mahi bhai said, 'Bowl a yorker'
Southampton: Mohammed Shami had no second thoughts about bowling a yorker for a hat-trick delivery after Mahendra Singh Dhoni advised the same during India's thrilling World Cup encounter against Afghanistan here.
Shami is the second Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in World Cup after Chetan Sharma's feat against New Zealand in the 1987 edition. This is the 10th hat-trick in history of 50-over World Cup.
"The plan was simple. To bowl a yorker and even Mahi bhai suggested that. He said, 'Don't change anything now as you have a great chance of getting a hat-trick. It's a rare opportunity and you need to do the same thing. So I did what exactly I was told," Shami told reporters after returning with figures of 4 for 40.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's left-hamstring stiffness brought Shami into the picture and the Bengal pacer accepts that it was a stroke of luck that he was in the playing XI.
"Getting a chance in the playing XI is a bit of luck. I was ready that whenever I get a chance, I will have to utilise it. As far as hat-trick is concerned, it is a rarity at least in the World Cup. I am happy," he said.
Shami said in the final over, there was no time to think and the aim was to execute the plan.
"There was no time to think. You have to back your own skills as you don't have much option otherwise. If you try more variations, chances of going for runs is more. My thought was to execute my plan rather than trying to read batsman's mind," he said.
The Indian bowlers had realised that short ball was a weapon that could be used effectively and both pacers -- Shami and Jasprit Bumrah -- did just that against Afghan batsmen.
"We didn't bowl fuller length deliveries as it was coming onto the bat well. We knew they would be circumspect against short balls. Our gameplan was simple, bowl bouncers from varying lengths," he added.
All-rounder Mohammed Nabi had threatened to take the game away with his half-century and Shami said it was important that they don't let the shoulders drop.
"There was a point when Nabi's flow was irritating but it's better if you don't show your concern or irritation which the batsman would have gauged," he said.
"We shouldn't show our weakness. From the exterior, we should always show aggression. We knew that if Nabi was out, then match belongs us. He was the only batsman who could have built their innings."
For someone, who loved his biryani, Shami's new mantra has been fitness which helped him bowl some great spells for India in Test matches last year.
"This is a long journey, may be, around two years. Post injury, I had put on weight and I could feel that. After one spell, I would feel tired and there would be tightness. I had a surgery too. At that point in time, I could sense that if I had to continue playing cricket, I better do something extra," Shami recalled.
Team India trainer Shankar Basu in a recent interview to PTI spoke about how fitness has become Shami's lifestyle. Even the player at times fails to believe this change.
"People laugh that I follow a diet. Actually, I don't follow any strict diet but if doctor advises on certain dietary restrictions, I try maintaining that. It is for my benefit that I don't eat sweets or wheat products (bread). It helps me only," he said.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
