Mohammed Shami achieved a historic milestone as he became the first Indian bowler to claim seven wickets in an ODI during the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Shami concluded with figures of 7/57, helping India dismiss the Black Caps for 327 and secure a spot in the World Cup final. This performance surpassed the previous record of 6/4 held by Stuart Binny.
These figures also established a new record for an Indian bowler in World Cups, eclipsing the previous best of 6/23 by Ashish Nehra against England in the 2003 World Cup.
Shami took wickets including those of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Lockie Ferguson, and Tim Southee. With these seven wickets, Shami emerged as the leading wicket-taker in this edition of the World Cup.
In the course of the innings, he also became the quickest bowler to reach 50 wickets in the quadrennial event and the first bowler to secure four five-wicket hauls in World Cups.
Meanwhile, the right-arm pacer Shami set a new record as the fastest bowler to claim 50 wickets in the history of the ODI World Cup, trapping Tom Latham in front at the packed Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Shami achieved this feat in 17 innings, breaking the previous record held by Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, who took 19 innings to reach the milestone.
In terms of balls taken, Shami secured his 50 wickets with 795 deliveries, while Starc took 941. He also became the first Indian bowler and the seventh overall to complete 50 wickets in the World Cup.
This marked Shami's fourth five-wicket haul in the overall history of the World Cup, surpassing Starc's record.
Having been benched for the first four matches of the tournament, Shami seems to be enjoying the form of his life, having taken 23 wickets in six matches, including three five-wicket hauls.
Australian great Glenn McGrath leads the chart with 71 wickets, followed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan with 68.