Mohammed Shami will lead India’s pace attack in the three-match ODI series against England in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, with the first match taking place at Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 6. It has been ten weeks since Shami played a 50-over match for India, back in the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia on November 19, 2023. Hence, Shami may create history in the first match of the series.
Once Shami, who has achieved 195 wickets in the first 101 ODIs, takes at least five wickets in Nagpur, he will dethrone Australian pacer Mitchell Starc’s record and become the fastest bowler in the world to pick 200 wickets in ODIs. Starc, regarded as one of the best bowlers in history, bagged his 200th ODI wicket in the 102nd innings of his 102nd match.
Fastest to 200 wickets in ODIs
Mitchell Starc (Australia) – 102
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) – 104
Trent Boult (New Zealand) – 107
Brett Lee (Australia) – 112
Allan Donald (South Africa) – 117
Waqar Younis (Pakistan) – 118
Shane Warne (Australia) – 125
Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) – 126
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) – 127
Mitchell Johnson (Australia) – 129
The first ODI match between India and England in Kolkata is the 102nd ODI for Shami, but, out of his total participation, it will be the 101st match in which he actually bowled over the ground. He could not bowl in this India-Australia match in Melbourne on January 26, 2015, at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Ajit Agarkar’s record for the fastest bowler to take 200 wickets in ODIs for India is worth mentioning. Agarkar took his 200th wicket in his 133rd outing on December 26, 2004, in Dhaka against Bangladesh.
Fastest to 200 ODIs wickets for India
Ajit Agarkar – 133
Zaheer Khan – 144
Anil Kumble – 147
Javagal Srinath – 147
Kapil Dev – 166
Harbhajan Singh – 178
Ravindra Jadeja – 182
As of now, only seven bowlers have dismissed over 200 batters for India in ODIs, and should Shami take five wickets in India’s next matches, he is set to become the eighth on this list. Anil Kumble holds the overall record for the most wickets for India in ODIs, having taken 334 wickets in 269 matches during his career.
Most wickets for India in ODIs
Anil Kumble – 334
Javagal Srinath – 315
Ajit Agarkar – 288
Zaheer Khan – 269
Harbhajan Singh – 265
Kapil Dev – 253
Harbhajan Singh – 220
Venkatesh Prasad – 196
Zaheer Khan – 195
Irfan Pathan – 173
Kuldeep Yadav – 172
In the last ODI series (ODI World Cup 2023), Shami has taken 24 wickets in seven matches and played a key role in India reaching the finals of the ODI World Cup 2023 under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.
