Mohammed Shami focussed on improving death bowling

New Delhi: Pleased at being named in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) 2014 One-Day International (ODI) team, India seamer Mohammed Shami yesterday said he is focussed on improving his ‘death-bowling' keeping in mind the forthcoming Australia tour and the ICC 2015 World Cup. "My focus is to improve my bowling at the end of an innings. It is imperative that as a pacer I bowl well at the death. I am trying to incorporate more variations in my arsenal so that I can implement them in match situations," Shami said on the sidelines of a programme organised by Delhi Daredevils.

Mohammed Shami

"I am training to make my yorkers and slower deliveries more potent so that it helps me to pick up wickets. Yorkers are very important for a pacer, normally I back myself to bowl towards the end of an innings."

He said his training will be aimed at maximising the accuracy of his block-hole deliveries so that batsmen can't score off him easily.

"Bowling at the death is always challenging and yorkers and slower balls have to be used judiciously. You need to be very accurate with them otherwise you will be taken for runs," the seamer said.

He expressed satisfaction at getting an entry into the ICC ODI team of 2014 and said it was a result of his hard work, which has given him added motivation to improve his performance from here on.