Ishant Sharma, four matches shy of becoming only the second Indian pace bowler to play 100 Tests, carries little pressure these days knowing full well he has done more than what he would have dreamt of when setting out as an India player 13 seasons ago. With experience has come a sense of humour—these days his answers can sometimes leave people in splits.
Fast bowlers usually don’t last 100 Tests. Only nine have played that many—including Kapil Dev as he always opened the bowling. That number goes up to 11 if pace bowling all-rounders Jacques Kallis and Ian Botham are included. And most of those who have played 100 were past their prime when they reached the milestone.
Ishant has bucked the trend, improving in all aspects and gaining verve as time has passed.
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“You can say the flame flickers, burns the brightest, when it is going out,” he laughs when asked what has helped him improve throughout his 96-Test career. He was Man-of-the-Series in the recent Tests against Bangladesh.
“I had so many ups and downs in my career—there wasn’t a lot of consistency. So you are under a lot of pressure. Since 2010, I used to keep myself under a lot of pressure to perform. I’d lose sleep over it. Pressure takes you into that negative mindset. (Now) I have stopped thinking. I give my hundred percent on each ball and the result takes care of itself. Earlier, I used to think less about the process and effort because I knew I will surely put in effort. But technique-wise, a lot of things change,” he says.
Ishant regrets there wasn’t much guidance early in his career. While people told him what was wrong, few offered solutions.
“There was no one to tell you what needs to be done. The problem in India is everybody tells you about the problem but no one tells you about solution. Knowing the solution nowadays is an important aspect. People can tell you the problem, but a good coach will also tell you the solutions,” he explains, referring to mid-career when he produced outstanding deliveries but couldn’t cement his place with consistency. Injuries too didn’t help.
But of late, he has added consistency, learnt the art of taking wickets and worked on his fitness too. In the last two years, he has been part of the four-pronged attack that has helped India race to the top of the World Test Championships table and extended India’s stay atop the Test rankings for close to three years.
In 2018, he took 41 wickets in 11 Tests, averaging a shade under 22. In 2019, he has 25 wickets in six Tests at 15.56.
“It is like a lot of people would tell me I need to increase the pace of my fuller deliveries. No one told me how to do it. But when I went to play County cricket, Jason Gillespie told me the solution. Now I have realised how I can increase the speed of my pitched-up deliveries,” says Ishant, who played for Sussex in the summer of 2018.
The former Australia fast bowler taught him how to focus on where the delivery would finish.
“Earlier, I would put cones during nets. That’s okay for a youngster who wants to get the areas right. For someone like me, I need to see where my ball is finishing instead of worrying about where it pitched. Practice is almost the same but the outcome is different. Gillespie told me to increase pace in my fuller deliveries, I don’t release it but hit the deck so that it targets the knee roll. His instructions ensured my fuller delivery is faster now.”
Back in the 2007-08 series in Australia when he had Ricky Ponting’s number, much was expected of him. But injuries as well as inability to reach his potential frustrated everyone. Critics grew.
Among the seniors who could have guided him was Zaheer Khan.
“Zak gave us a lot of solutions…. From the beginning, I got a tag; people started calling me a workhorse. The seniors at that time would tell me ‘you need to bowl 20 overs and even if you give 60 runs, you will still end up getting three wickets’. So that works on your mind and you feel you (only) have to bowl 20 overs. So you bowl back of length deliveries but batsmen start leaving those till they get set and then come back to attack you. And you end up giving 80 runs instead. What matters is how you conceded those 60—if you bowled good areas or bowled back of length.
“No role was given to me but that (of a workhorse) became a role. I was not experienced enough earlier but I am professional now and know my job.”
Fitness and being in the company of other good pace bowlers in the India team are things besides skills that have helped him.
“Fast bowling is 80% fitness and 20% skill. I realised it when I had ankle surgery in 2012 (he missed that IPL season). Communication (with other India pacers like Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav), experience and fitness culminate into performance.
“You get an idea about execution and the poor deliveries you bowled, why you bowled them. This comes with experience.
“When we three (Shami, Umesh and him) started, there was lack of experience. So, we didn’t take wickets in tandem. Now we are experienced, we know more about bowling and that comes with time. We share our experience. Not just me but they also give their feedback about how the pitch behaves, about conditions. The communication is far better now. First, we didn’t know each other a lot, you tend to be reserved but now communication level is very good.”
He also attributes experience for helping Virat Kohli’s India possess arguably the world’s best pace bowling attack, which can now win matches abroad like it did in Australia.
“Look, during MSD’s time, some of us didn’t have that much experience. Also the fast bowlers would be rotated a lot. That’s also a reason that consistency as a group couldn’t be achieved. If you know that you are a pool of 3-4 fast bowlers (like now), that increases communication. Earlier, there would 6-7 bowlers, so communication wasn’t there.
“When Virat took over, we had by then gained a fair amount of experience and that helped. Now when you play more, stay in that dressing room more, spend more time with the team compared to family, discussions are free and frank, and you start enjoying when you go out there in the middle. There’s a different feeling.”
While his Test career is on the upswing, he hasn’t given up on dreams to return to white-ball cricket. He last played an ODI four years back and a T20 International over five years back.
Ishant has been retained by Delhi Capitals. “I am playing IPL so that I can come back. Earlier, I would be thinking if I do well in this format, my name would come up for selection, now I don’t think so much about it.”
