Ravi Shastri has told the Mohammed Shami biryani story again, this time on The Great Indian Kapil Show on Netflix. The episode, with Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar as guests, aired on October 10, 2026.
Shastri said he saw Shami fill up on biryani during a break while South Africa were still in the chase, and sent bowling coach Bharat Arun to ask him why. Shami was furious, then took five wickets to win the match. Shastri closed the story by saying he told Arun to take Shami some hot biryani.
“The match was in a tough situation. SA needed 100 runs with 8 wickets in hand. During lunch, I saw that Shami had eaten so much biryani that he was completely full.”
Ravi Shastri, The Great Indian Kapil Show, October 10, 2026
🚨 RAVI SHASTRI ANGRY ON
MOHAMMED SHAMI FOR EATING BIRYANI🚨Kapil Sharma – “Ravi sir, we heard you angry on Mohammed Shami for eating biryani when you were the coach. What happened ?”.
Ravi Shastri – “The match was in a tough situation. SA needed 100 runs with 8 wickets in hand. During lunch, I saw that Shami had eaten so much biryani that he was completely full”.
I called bowling coach Bharat Arun and said, “Go and ask him why he’s eating so much biryani when he has to bowl”.
“Shami got really angry when he heard this. But then Shami came out and took 5 wickets in just 6 overs, helping India win the match”.
“After that, I told Bharat Arun, “Now take some hot biryani to Shami”.
— VIKAS (@Vikas662005) October 12, 2026
The biryani makes a good punchline. What actually won India that Test was the length Shami chose to bowl on a pitch that was hurting batters.
The match was the third Test of India’s 2018 tour, at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. South Africa needed 241 to win. Late on Day 3, the umpires had stopped play over the state of the pitch after a bouncer hit Dean Elgar’s helmet grille.
At tea on Day 4, South Africa were 136/3 and needed 105 more. They were bowled out for 177, losing nine wickets for 53 runs from 124/1.
| Wanderers Test, 2018 | Detail |
|---|---|
| Target | 241 |
| Tea, Day 4 | 136/3, needing 105 |
| South Africa all out | 177 |
| Shami | 5/28 in 12.3 overs |
| Result | India won by 63 runs |
It was the cheapest five-wicket haul by an Indian pacer in Tests since Javagal Srinath’s 6/21 in 1996. India still lost the series 2-1, but the win spared them a 3-0 whitewash. It is the kind of spell behind Ajit Agarkar’s view of Shami as India’s finest match-winner.
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On a pitch like that, a fast bowler’s first instinct is to bang the ball in. But a short ball gives a set batter time to sway, duck and survive. Elgar took blows to the helmet, hip and fingers and still finished 86 not out.
Shami went fuller. On uneven bounce, full and straight is the ball a batter cannot leave, because he cannot tell which one will stay low. Philander, Phehlukwayo and Morkel were all bowled, Morkel by a yorker, and the anger the biryani lit was only worth what that length turned it into.
Three Tellings, Three Different Stories
The Kapil Show version is at least the third public telling. R Sridhar, India’s former fielding coach, wrote about it in his book Coaching Beyond, and Shastri and Arun told it again in a Sony Sports Network video in June 2025. The details do not match.
| Detail | Sridhar’s book | Sony Sports, 2025 | Kapil Show, 2026 | Scorecard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who confronted Shami | Shastri, directly | Shastri, directly | Arun, sent by Shastri | Not applicable |
| Match situation | Not stated | Under 100 needed, 7 wickets left | 100 needed, 8 wickets left | 105 needed, 7 wickets left at tea |
| The break | First interval | Lunch | Lunch | At lunch SA were 69/1. The equation fits tea |
| Shami’s spell | Not stated | Not stated | 5 wickets in 6 overs | 5/28 in 12.3 overs |
The endings differ too. In Sridhar’s book, Shami tells the coaches after the win to keep making him angry. In the 2025 telling, Arun offers him biryani, and on Kapil’s show Shastri orders it hot.
The scorecard backs the part every version shares: five wickets for Shami and an Indian win.
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