Huge heart, exceptional skill-set makes Shami the bowler he is: GT Team Director Vikram Solanki

Mohammed Shami (Pic:AFP)

An "exceptional bowler" with a "huge heart" is how Gujarat Titans Team Director Vikram Solanki described his veteran pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, who skill-set makes him a force to reckon with in this particular format.

Solanki heaped praise Shami, who has been among the top wicket-takers this year, with 19 scalps in 11 matches.

"It is tough at the moment for the bowlers. The wickets are better, the batsmen are pushing the boundaries if they have not already. As far as our group is concerned, we have got a very experienced group, very well led by Mohammad Shami and he sets the example for the rest of the group to follow," Solanki said ahead of their 12th IPL league game against Mumbai Indians.

Also Read: IPL 2023: Upbeat MI to take on GT's might in vital IPL clash

"To put quite simply, he (Shami) is an exceptional bowler. Regardless of the format and the game situation, you think of his skill-set that he has, it just makes him a force at any given time in any of those formats," Solanki added.

The former England batter said irrespective of the format, Shami is a force to reckon with.

"We watch his seam presentation in awe and I don't tire of it when commentators are talking about it, and that's the case with white ball or red ball cricket - his seam presentation is immaculate," he said.

"His control as far as what he is trying to do, in terms of the areas that he is trying to hit, is excellent. He has a huge heart and he has been somebody that's so experienced in any situation that only serves him well. All of those things collectively go towards making Mohammed Shami the performer that he is," Solanki added.

The defending champions Gujarat Titans might have put one foot into the Play-off door but Solanki doesn't want his wards to look too far ahead and take things for granted as they still have three league matches to play in this edition of IPL.

With eight wins and three defeats in 11 fames so far, Titans are sitting pretty at top of the points table with 16 points. Additionally, the Hardik Pandya-led side has not lost a single away game this season, which makes their bid for title defence even more stronger.

However Solanki said that the team is totally focussed on the job at hand, which is taking on a revitalised Mumbai Indians in their backyard at the Wankhede Stadium here on Friday.

"We cannot take anything for granted in this competition. You have seen, in games that you think are wrapped up, there have been some twists in some way and it has happened on a number of occasions," Solanki told the media during a pre-match conference here.

"To take your position for granted, in this year, as things are so tight, I think that would be ill-advised. We are totally focussed on this game against a very strong Mumbai side," he said.

GT will have their task cut out for them as MI's batters have been dominant at the batting-friendly Wankhede Stadium here, successfully chasing targets above 200 twice out of three attempts.

Solanki said assessing the situation would be the key.

"I think you are in danger unless you make an assessment of what is in front of you, given what has happened previously, to make an ill-guided judgement on what's likely to happen in the game.

"What we have to do is look at the conditions, make an assessment on the day as the game progresses. Your best way to read a wicket and I don't think everybody gets it right 100 per cent of the time so we have to react to the conditions in front of us and make an assessment."

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