Shami and the art of reverse swing

Kanpur, Mohammad Shami used reverse swing to good effect against the Kiwis on the final day of the Kanpur Test to put the hosts on track to victory, but the pace spearhead says it is not an easy art to execute.
Shami said the team had to wait till the last day to reverse swing the ball.
“A lot of effort is put in to get the reverse swing. Every member of the team makes it a point to keep the ball dry at all times and maintain it throughout the day. There are times when you will get reverse swing, but if it gets wet, you won’t be able to execute swing perfectly as the ball tends to get heavy,” Shami said after India’s historic win in the 500th Test.
On the final day of the first Test, Shami executed the skill with perfection to trap Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling in front of wickets, before cleaning up Mark Craig to pave the way for India’s victory.
“Consistency and accuracy is very important for reverse swing. If you bowl too full you will go for runs and if you bowl back of length, you won’t be able to get swing. As a bowler you have to pitch the ball in the right areas and maintain that line and length consistently. To execute reverse swing well, I work hard to get my line right,” he said.
The speed merchant said the ball wasn’t reversing early on in the innings and the team was waiting for the moment when the ball could reverse. “We were waiting for the moment for three days and it finally reversed on the fifth day,” he said.
Shami said there was a different joy in bowling reverse swing and he loved to bowl with the old ball.
“The old ball is one of my main weapons and I am comfortable bowling with it. I know if I can get a hint of reverse swing, I can use it to good effect. I love bowling reverse swing. When I get the feeling that it is going to reverse, I look to hit the top of off-stump maximum number of times or else I aim at the batsman’s pads,” said Shami, who has so far taken 60 wickets in Test matches.