Veteran Indian pacer Ishant Sharma feels that the legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni groomed the Indian fast bowling unit under his watchful eyes before handing it over to its successor Virat Kohli. Indian fast bowlers shined under the leadership of the Indian batting maestro, which helped the Indian team register many memorable victories on home soil.
Virat Kohli developed a bigger pool of fast bowling units during his captaincy stint with the Indian team, as he instilled confidence Indian pace attack to do well in overseas conditions, as the Indian fast bowlers did exceedingly well for the team during his time as the Indian captain.
Speaking on Jiiocinema, Ishant Sharma feels that Virat Kohli had better bowling during his captaincy with the Indian team, as feels that the Indian fast bowling unit had a transition phase during the final stage of MS Dhoni’s leadership position with the team and reckons that most of the players were groomed under the 2011 World Cup winner before handing it over Virat Kohli.
“When Virat was captain, bowling was complete. When we were playing under Mahi Bhai, we were in a transition phase. At that time, Shami and Umesh were new, and only I was there. Everyone else would rotate. Bhuvi was also new. There is no match for Mahi bhai as a communicator.”
“But, what he did was groom the bowlers and leave them with Virat. Shami and Umesh, over time, became different bowlers, and then, Jasprit came in. So, he got a complete package,” Ishant Sharma said.
Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and Mohammed Siraj proved to be lethal for the Indian team, especially in red-ball cricket going for 20 wickets in test cricket attacking high-quality opponents in their own backyard.
The Important Thing Was That Everyone Defined Roles – Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma said that Virat Kohli used to use the bowlers to their strengths in the game and revealed that he used to have one-on-one conversations with the bowlers and asserted that the former Indian skipper wanted to be attacking with the new ball, as he was always looking for the wickets in the game.
“The best thing he did was identify everyone’s traits, that he used to talk about one thing with one person and then let them be.”
“First thing, he was aggressive. If you’re bowling with the new ball, you can concede 25 runs in five overs as long as you take two wickets. The important thing was that he gave everyone defined roles,” Ishant Sharma added.
Virat Kohli’s captaincy has the hunger to win games even in the most unfavourable conditions, as he took the regime from the legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni. The 34-year-old was one of the most influential captains in Indian cricket history as he is famous for wearing his heart on his sleeve every time he takes the field.