Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma has transformed himself into a strike bowler in the longer format of the game and he has been India’s one of the main weapons in the pace-attack. A share amount of credit can be given to the former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie, who worked with him during a stint with English county side Sussex.
Ishant recently gave credit to the former fast bowler again for helping him find the second wind that has seen him become one of the premier fast bowlers in Test cricket currently.
Meanwhile, Gillespie explained how Ishant turned him into one of the best bowlers in Test cricket at the moment. He believes Ishant has learnt how to bowl full-length deliveries well and also revealed the various adjustments the Indian veteran went through.
“We spoke about a number of things regarding bowling in general when he was at Sussex. I believe we learnt a lot from each other. Ishant was keen to explore ways where he could create more wicket-taking opportunities. Things we spoke about included wrist position for swinging and seaming the ball and the best lengths to bowl. We also spoke about bowling over and around the wicket to the left-handers depending on how much the ball is swinging,” he said to TOI.
“If you look at how Ishant is taking his wickets, he is bowling a fuller length on average. Rather than bowling back of a length, he is bowling about knee roll/top of pad length. Often, when bowlers practise bowling fuller, they can look to put the ball there rather than hit the pitch hard like bowlers do when they bowl back of a length. As a coach sometimes, it is the language you use with players that can help. We spoke about “looking to put a dent in the pitch on that fuller length” as opposed to saying “hit the pitch hard,” he added.
With the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant. India is now considered as a team with one of the dangerous pace bowling attack in the longer format of the game.
Gillespie also believes the same and said that India has one of the most exciting bowling combinations in the world.
“India has a fantastic attack. I think there are some wonderful pace attacks in the world at the moment. I particularly enjoy watching Australia and India’s pace attacks. It’s tough to go past (Mitchell) Starc, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Pat) Cummins in my opinion. However, what I can say is that Bumrah and Shami is one of the most exciting bowling combinations in the world,” he concluded.
