’1kg mutton daily’: Mohammed Shami’s love for food has a direct connection to his bowling speed

After missing out IPL 2024 and T20 World Cup, Indian pacer Mohammed Shami is preparing hard for his comeback to international cricket. Recenlty, his friend spoke about Shami's spoke on the pacer's love for mutton. In a conversation with Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel, Umesh Kumar claimed that Shami's bowling speed could drop by up to 15 km/h "if he doesn't consume 1kg of mutton daily."

“Shami can bear everything, but Shami cannot survive without mutton. He can tolerate it for one day, you will see him agitated on the second day, and will lose his mind on the third. If he (Shami) doesn't eat 1kg mutton daily, his bowling speed will reduce by upto 15 kmph,” he said on Mishra's show ‘Unplugged.’

Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami was last seen in November 2023 when he played the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad, which India lost. 

In the 2023 World Cup, Shami claimed 24 wickets in seven matches, averaging 10.70 with an economy rate of 5.26. He achieved one four-wicket haul and three five-wicket hauls, with his top performance being 7/57 against New Zealand in the semifinal. With 448 wickets in 188 international matches, including 11 five-wicket hauls, Shami is considered one of the finest pacers of the modern era

The pacer underwent a successful recovery from an Achilles tendon injury back in February, which caused him to miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 which India won.

Shami during the same show spoke on being missing from the field despite taking a good amount of wickets. The pacer took an veiled attack on Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri for dropping him in the 2019 World Cup. Notably, during the 2019 World Cup, Team India was led by Virat Kohli while Ravi Shastri was the coach. Expressing his thoughts, Shami told Mishra, “The one thing I keep wondering is every team needs players who can perform well. I took 13 wickets in three matches. What more do you expect from me?”