Mohammed Shami’s charity initiatives: Who’s benefitting?

Mohammed Shami (Photo by Stu Forster-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)

Fiery pacer Mohammed Shami, who turned 34 years old today on September 3, rose to the echelons of Indian cricket with his exemplary performance in the World Cup 2023. The pacer plucked 24 wickets after being benched for the first four games. His seven-wicket haul against New Zealand in the semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium is the best figure for any Indian bowler in a 50-over event. Subsequently, he was bestowed with the second-highest sporting honour of India, the Arjun Award, on January 9, 2024. The 34-year-old is known for his charity besides cricketing lore. 

Shami’s 24 wickets made him surpass the former India pacer Zaheer Khan’s tally. With 55 wickets in 18 games, he is the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament’s history and India’s top wicket-getter. Moreover, though he was not the first-choice bowler in the ODI World Cup 2019, he became the only second bowler after Chetan Sharma to pick a hat-trick in the World Cup. He achieved this feat against Afghanistan at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.

Here are some of philanthropic contributions of Shami:

1. Shami comes to the rescue during Covid-19

Mohammad Shami. (Source – Twitter/X)

As the world grappled with the deadly coronavirus, several Indian migrant workers were trying to reach their homes. Shami distributed food packets and masks on National Highway 24 in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. The pacer, who resides in Sahaspur of UP, also set up food distribution centres around his house for the people in need.

Also Check: Mohammed Shami conferred with Arjuna Award for outstanding performance in cricket

2. Shami distributed tricycles to differently-abled people

Shami and his daughter (Photo Source: Twitter)

Mohammed Shami has always been vocal about his love for his only daughter and does little things to make her seem special. On the eve of his daughter’s birthday in 2018, he donated tri-cycles to specially-abled people in his village of Amroha, in Uttar Pradesh, in 2018. He also shared the insights along with the gesture that, the tradition of helping people in need stems from his forefathers’ practices.

3. Shami’s forever dream of building sporting facilities in Amroha

Mohammad Shami. (Source – Twitter/X)

Whenever the fiery pacer Shami is in his village, he practices on the four pitches constructed at his farmhouse. The reason for this was the fact that Sahaspur had lost its sole facility for sporting purposes in the form of a government-run stadium, in 2021. Shami dreamt of a stadium in Sahaspur-Alinagar to fuel the youngster’s dreams.

Also Check: Mohammed Shami offers valuable advice to Nepal players at NCA

His initiative was green-signalled by the UP government and will allot 1.09 hectares of land.

For the unversed, Shami used to travel 25 km every day from his village to practice in a conducive infrastructure. The initiative inspired a lot of youth in the region to pursue their sporting dreams.