"Shami is a very clever bowler. He is the find of India and he is the best fast bowler in the world. Whatever situation you put him in, he always excels, whether it's a world cup or a T20 in New Zealand, he's a very very smart fast bowler. When he got to know that yorkers won't work, he immediately switched to length balls and bouncers," Akhtar said on his Youtube channel.

 

"When Taylor hit Shami for a six in the first ball, I thought the match was over but that's where the experience of Shami came into play. He realized there was little bit of dew which will help the ball skid if he hits the length."

 

New Zealand needed 9 runs off the last six balls when Virat Kohli handed the ball to Shami and even though Ross Taylor started the over with a six, the pacer kept cool and came back to dismiss him off the last ball to tie the game.

 

"Taylor hit me a lot through the midwicket region in my last match but unfortunately he dragged the same shot onto his stumps on the last ball. But credit to Shami," Akhtar pointed.

 

In fact, India's limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma also credited Shami for bringing the team back into the game after a master-class from Kane Williamson had almost seen the Kiwis stroll home.

 

"I think Shami's last over was crucial, and actually that got us the victory. Not my two sixes. It was Shami's over where we defended nine runs. It's not easy with the dew," Rohit had said.

 

"The wicket settling in nicely and two set batsmen out there as well... One batsman was batting on 95 and their most experienced player was at the other end. Hats off to Shami to bowl that over and get us back into the game and into the Super Over."