Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami has been India's go-to bowler in Cricket World Cup 2023, where he is currently the top wicket-taker with 23 scalps to his name across six matches at an economy of 5.01. His heroics include three five-wicket hauls and a a four-for. Shami grabbed seven wickets in the semifinal against New Zealand in Mumbai on Tuesday. The pacer will also be the key bowler during the India vs Australia final match on Sunday. The right-arm pacer was not picked in the playing XI in India's first four matches in the tournament, but once he made a cut after an unfortunately injury to all-rounder Hardik Pandya, the pace sensation never looked back.
"India always had match-winners on the bench. I won't say Hardik's injury was a blessing in disguise, but everyone was waiting to see how Shami would perform, and the way he has set the stage on fire has been outstanding. I feel if anyone deserves the Player of the Tournament award, it's Mohammed Shami," Yuvraj told Sports Tak.
India's head coach Rahul Dravid came agonisingly close to winning the Cricket World Cup title as a player back in 2003. In the summit clash, India lost to Australia.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma is also among the players who have narrowly missed out on winning the title in the past. While he was not picked in the squad that won the 2011 World Cup, he did get a chance to feature in the next two editions but India were eliminated in the semi-finals on both the occasions.
"Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have a chance to get their first World Cup medal. They deserve it. Before the Asia Cup, we were wondering where the Indian ODI team is because we didn't know the combination. However, the return of Iyer, Rahul and Bumrah certainly made a difference," Yuvraj added.