Seam presentation gets spoken about a lot when Mohammed Shami is the topic of discussion. For sure that’s one major characteristic of his bowling.

But the ability to bring the stumps into play and doing so consistently also gives Shami an edge over his pace counterparts, feels Vernon Philander.

The former South Africa seamer all-rounder, who has played against Shami in both red and white-ball cricket, emphasised that being “a bit sorted” helps the senior India pacer in terms of execution.

“I’ve been a massive fan of Shami, having played against him. Obviously, that beautiful seam presentation apart, one thing that he does particularly well is he brings the stumps into play.

“Obviously, he’s a bit sorted than the rest of the bowling arsenal and is really asking good questions by bringing those stumps into play. I think when you bring those stumps into play, it’s a massive attribute and can trouble any batsman.

“Of course, Shami has got a fantastic skillset. He gets the ball to zip off the surface and is always going to be in the game,” Philander, who played 64 Tests, 30 ODIs and seven T20Is with 224, 41 and four wickets, respectively, told The Telegraph.

With 14 wickets from just three games so far, Shami has rocked India’s opponents. But what has also stood out is his control which made matters a lot easier for the rest of the bowling group.

“I’ve played a couple of Test series against Shami. No doubt, he is a wonderful bowler, perhaps not the quickest any more, but he has got fantastic control,” Philander stated.

“In the modern one-day game, if you have a bowler who can give you that sort of control, that’s really what you want. He’s affording India that luxury of just control, out-and-out pure control and of course, he picks up wickets as well. So, I think for South Africa, it’s going to be a good contest against him.”

‘Back your game’

If India have Shami, the Proteas too have a weapon in the almost seven-footer Marco Jansen, who too is among the top wicket-takers in this World Cup — 16 scalps from seven matches.

No wonder Philander is mighty pleased with how the 23-year-old left-arm quick has performed, particularly the steep bounce he can extract.

“Marco’s probably the pick of the South African bowlers so far, particularly in the Powerplay with the new ball... Playing at Eden against India, you’ve got to make sure you take the opposition out of the equation and focus on your attributes. It’s okay to analyse certain batsmen and their weak areas, but Marco needs to back his game and make sure to extract that extra bounce,” he said.

“The Eden, from time to time, does offer extra bounce and pace. Make sure you utilise your natural attributes.”