India may have faltered in the final against Australia but they have produced some fine performances in World Cup 2023. The majority of the Indian players had a terrific tournament. The biggest proof of that was the inclusion of six Indians in ICC's World Cup 2023 XI. That is more than 50% from one team. Virat Kohli was a standout player with the bat, scoring more runs than any other player in the history of World Cups. He was rightly adjudged the Player of the Tournament for smashing 763 runs in 11 innings. There was another Indian cricketer, who was equally deserving of that award. That is Mohammed Shami.

The fast bowler picked up 24 wickets, returning as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament. His tally was also the most by any Indian bowler in the history of World Cups. And Shami did all that despite not playing the first four matches of the tournament as India preferred to pick Shardul Thakur ahead of him because of the latter's batting abilities.

But as fate would have it, Hardik Pandya got injured during a league match against Bangladesh and was ruled out of the World Cup. India had no option but to switch to plan B.

They brought Suryakumar Yadav into the XI to cover for Pandya's skills and picked Shami in place of Shardul to strengthen the bowling department. Shami had an immediate impact. He picked up five wickets in his first match of this World Cup against New Zealand and never looked back.

That Shami's excellence was not limited to the cricket field alone made his performance in the World Cup even more noteworthy. When the Indian pacers were making the opposition batters dance to their tunes, brushing aside quality teams like England, Sri Lanka, and South Africa as if they were club teams, Hasan Raza, a former Pakistan cricketer came up with an absurd theory. The former batter said ICC might be giving different balls to the Indian pacers and hence they were able to extract so much movement.

Shami was the only Indian cricketer to take note of that. He shared an Instagram story lambasting the conspiracy theory. Now that the World Cup is over, Shami was once again asked about the incident and the India pacer did not hold back. "I know I can be bitter while speaking the truth but if I don't open my mouth after all this then it won't be right," he said in a podcast with PUMA.