"His accuracy was phenomenal": Aakash Chopra lauds Shami's bowling against New Zealand

Shami performed strongly against the Kiwis in Dharamshala and restricted the flow of runs with his wickets.

He joined hands with Mohammed Siraj to dismiss Devon Conway for a duck in the initial overs. He provided the breakthrough by ending Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell's 186-run stand by sending young Rachin back to the pavilion.

He came back into the attack in the death overs dismissing set batter Mitchell and getting back-to-back wickets of Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry.

"This was Mohammed Shami's first match of the World Cup and he returned with five wickets. It looked like he was bowling into a 'gun barrel straight'. This is a phrase used for a pipe. It seems he was bowling consistently into that pipe. His accuracy was phenomenal. The length that he maintains varies and he also gets reverse swing. So that was the reason why India, who would have been chasing about 325 runs, ended up with a target of 274. The billion-dollar question is: Will Shami stay in the XI when Hardik is fit? Well, I don't have an answer for that at the moment," Aakash Chopra said on JioCinema's daily sports show '#AAKASHVANI,'

Kuldeep Yadav struggled against the Blackcaps which made him switch to a defensive style rather than his usual aggressive style.

Chopra also spoke about the Kiwis' success against Kuldeep Yadav. "Daryl Mitchell was singularly responsible for that. The way he used his feet was commendable. He was reading the ball in Kuldeep's hand very well and was stepping out and reaching it. He is tall, has long levers and has a good flow but more than that, he had the confidence to step out and reach the pitch of the ball and then hit it straight. The ground at Dharamsala has shorter straight boundaries and Mitchell got the better of Kuldeep."

India defeated New Zealand and registered their fifth straight win in the World Cup. (ANI)