Since 2016, Ishant Sharma has an average of 22.91 in Test cricket and, which jumped to pulverising figures of 19.34 in 2018, which is the second best in the world after Jason Holder of West Indies. Ishant Sharma’s average is even better than James Anderson, who has taken the most number of wickets in the list of fast bowlers. Ishant is playing his hundredth Test for India, at the new Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. So far, only Kapil Dev had achieved this milestone.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, Sharavan Kumar, Ishant’s coach since his school days, said that the great secret of his success in these years is that he has started bowling more intelligently. “His bowling shows a lot of sense. He completely avoids the weak ball so that he can continuously pressurize the batsman. Although Ishant swings the ball on both sides, inswing has been his main weapon,” Sharavan Kumar said.
“He [Ishant] also puts the batsman in trouble by resorting to reverse swing from time to time,” Kumar added.
On the fourth day of the second cricket Test played in Chennai, Ishant troubled Joe Root—who is currently ranked among the top five batsmen in the world, and is in a very good form— with his reverse swing. Not only this, Ishant applies different tactics against left-handed batsmen. He bowls round the wicket to such batsmen, which gives a good angle to his balls.
Shravan Kumar says that Ishant tries for inswing that goes out for left-handers. It is very difficult to read such balls moving at fiery speeds. “When Ishant first came to me, he was in the 10th standard, and at that time he was wearing slippers. Then he showed me few balls on the nets and I was very much impressed by his action. I admitted him to Ganga International school and after that, he started coming to my Rohtak Road Gymkhana regularly. His action was already superb, I only had to work on his run-up,” said Kumar. “I can say that Ishant Sharma is India`s first genuine pacer because in the past, fast bowlers had more emphasis on swing or seam movement, and Ishant has good pace as well,” he added. While showering praise on ace bowler’s learning capabilities, Kumar said, “Ishant could bowl consistently at a speed of 140 clicks. He liked to bowl longer spells. On one occasion, he was struggling with his action, and he came to me. He solved this problem by talking to me. He’s always been a fast learner.”
When Ishant joined Sussex county, former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie was the coach of that Academy. “Ishant learned the art of fuller length balls and the art of hitting the ball from him [Gillespie],” Kumar added. “Playing hundred Test match is the dream of every cricketer. I wish him all the best for the Test in New Motera. Youngsters of our country can learn a lot from him,” Sharavan Kumar concluded.
