Mohammed Shami’s earns plaudits from Justin Langer

NEW DELHI: India’s veteran bowler Mohammed Shami is gearing up for IPL 2026 with strong determination, using the tournament as a chance to get back into India’s national team. Despite being 35 and currently out of selection, the fast bowler has regained fitness and is working hard in training, focusing on sharpening his bowling, especially his deadly yorkers.In a recent training session with Lucknow Super Giants, Shami caught everyone’s attention with his precise yorkers. The franchise shared a video where bowling coach Bharat Arun closely observed him in action. Head coach Justin Langer was clearly impressed, saying, “Your yorker… that yorker.. is breathtaking.”Watch:Langer also highlighted Shami’s importance beyond just performance, especially for younger players in the squad. “During the team lunch, Mohammed Shami was speaking and all the boys were hanging on his every word, their eyes never left him,” he said. Calling him “incredibly experienced” and “a true warrior,” Langer added, “We often discuss big brother-little brother or master-apprentice dynamics in coaching, and that’s exactly what we have here.”With selectors still overlooking him for the national side despite the veteran pacer performing well in domestic circuit, IPL 2026 could be Shami’s best shot at making a comeback. His experience and leadership could play a key role for Lucknow Super Giants, a team still chasing its first IPL final appearance despite reaching the playoffs in its early seasons.The tournament begins on March 28, with LSG starting their campaign against Delhi Capitals on April 1, giving Shami a big stage to prove himself once again.

India’s Jasprit Bumrah (ANI Photo)

Ahead of India’s highly anticipated T20 World Cup final against the New Zealand national cricket team in Ahmedabad, Jasprit Bumrah has received glowing praise from one of fast bowling’s greatest names, James Anderson. The former England pacer, who became the first fast bowler in history to reach 600 Test wickets, hailed Bumrah’s extraordinary skill set and described his bowling as something truly unique. India head into the summit clash riding high on momentum, and Bumrah has been a key contributor during the knockout stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. In the semi-final against the England cricket team at the Wankhede Stadium, the Indian speedster produced a crucial spell at the death. With the match turning into a high-scoring thriller, Bumrah conceded only 14 runs in his final two overs. That tight finish proved decisive as India posted 253 and held on to secure a narrow seven-run victory.Also See: India vs New Zealand Live Score T20 World Cup 2026

Before that, Bumrah had also played a decisive role in India’s must-win clash against the West Indies cricket team at the Eden Gardens. In a crucial over, he dismissed both Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase, preventing the Caribbean side from posting an even bigger total and keeping India firmly in the contest. Speaking on a BBC podcast, Anderson admitted that Bumrah’s ability is so exceptional that other bowlers may struggle to replicate what he does. “The thing about Bumrah is, I look at him and think, I don’t think you can learn anything from him. Like, he’s an absolute freak. There’s not one bowler in the world in any format, men or women who can bowl six yorkers out of six and absolutely nail it every time. Even one of the yorkers, he bowled [vs England] in his last over was a slow ball. So he’s nailed five fast yorkers and one slowball yorker, like you can’t hit them anywhere,” Anderson praised Bumrah effusively. Anderson also pointed out that England’s batters handled Bumrah as well as they possibly could, choosing to play him cautiously rather than risk going after him. The veteran also felt that players like Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran made the right call by simply trying to survive Bumrah’s overs rather than target him. “England did really well to get six [balls] off the hole, like they squeezed the ball out. They actually played it pretty well because they thought we know that we can’t get boundaries off it or it’s going to be really hard to get boundaries off him. “So we’ll just take our chances against the other two at the other end. And they saw at the end Shivam Dube bowl in the last over went for 22 with Jofra Archer smacking him. I know the game was gone then, but he was trying to bowl a yorker and was missing by a decent amount. So it’s just a ridiculous skill. There’s no one or certainly in T20 cricket, there’s no one better than him,” Anderson explained. With praise of this magnitude coming from a fast-bowling legend like Anderson, Bumrah will head into the final brimming with even more belief as India look to lift the T20 World Cup trophy.