Shami revealed that he used to drive trucks, buses and tractors – which are mainly used for agricultural purposes – during his young age.

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“Zameen se hi aaya hu. Kheto ki jo booghi hoti hai, I have driven tractor, bus, trucks…One of my school friends had a truck in his house. He told me to drive. I was small then and was driving on a ground. I drove our tractor into the pond too. My father scolded me,” NDTV quoted him as saying during an interview shared on PUMA’s YouTube channel.

Shami also revealed that he is passionate about bikes, but stopped riding them after he was selected in the national team. “What if I get injured?” he said.

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The speedster, who emerged as India’s highest wicket-taker in the World Cup, revealed that he was forced to shift to West Bengal during his early cricketing days allegedly due to the approach of a “chief selector” in his home-state Uttar Pradesh.

“My brother was told, ‘Agar meri kursi hila sakte ho to ladka select ho jayega, bohot acha hai, warna sorry’ (If you can move my chair, the boy will be selected). My brother gave one reply ‘forget moving the chair, I can turn it upside down, I have that much power but I don’t want that’. If I have the capability I should be selected. He was told that people with capability are of no use here. My brother tore up the form and said that after today we will not involve ourselves in UP cricket. That was my last day in UP cricket,” NDTV further quoted Shami as saying during the interview.

Shami, 33, was the senior-most pacer in the Indian camp during the World Cup. In the initial four matches, he was not part of the playing XI as the team backed a combination of speedsters Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, along with all-rounder pacer Hardik Pandya. However, with Pandya getting injured, Shami was brought into the side. In the semifinal against New Zealand, he ended up with his best-ever figures of 7/57.

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Updated: 25 Nov 2023, 11:16 PM IST