Mohammed Shami, who was India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the 2015 World Cup, has revealed that he played most of the tournament with a shattered knee, scans of which later revealed that he had a “4 mm broken bone piece”.

In an Instagram live with Irfan Pathan, Shami recalled the experience of surviving the high-octane tournament on painkillers and injections, and how the support of the team management egged him on, despite immense pain through the month-and-a-half-long tournament.

“I played the entire 2015 World Cup with a knee injury. I was not even able to walk after matches, I used to take both painkillers and injections. The confidence provided by physio Nitin Patel helped me. The injury happened before the tournament. Without operation, it would have taken 5-6 weeks to recover, but there was only a week to go for the World Cup. The fracture led to a completely broken bone in the first match itself.”

In India’s opening game against Pakistan, Shami was the pick of the bowlers, snaring four wickets. He played the subsequent game against South Africa, but had to sit out in the group stage match against UAE, before making a return against West Indies.

After playing just five ODIs in 2016, 2017, and 2018 combined, Mohammed Shami claimed more wickets in 2019 than any other bowler in the format.

@aadya_sh looks at what changed for the Indian quick, and ask where he goes next.https://t.co/z35rYPSbEt

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 1, 2020

“Because of the swelling, the size of my knee had become the same as my thigh. The doctors used to take out fluids everyday, and I had to take as many as three painkillers.”

Shami opened up on the harrowing experience of bowling in the semi-final, when the condition had worsened and even the doctors had given up. It was MS Dhoni’s pep talk that goaded him to bowl through the immense pain.

“In the middle of the game, I had to be administered medicine. The pain was such that I told MS Dhoni that I just won’t be able to bowl anymore.”

“Mahi bhai said: ‘I have faith in you. Even if I bowl to a part-timer, he will go for runs’. He put his hand on my shoulder, and said, ‘Just do this – try to give under 60 runs’.”

Shami eventually went wicketless, and India lost the game, bowing out of the tournament that they had entered as defending champions. An MRI scan later revealed that a 4-mm bone piece had broken apart.

“I never played in a condition worse than that,” he said, “and hope no one else does.”