For the first 10 years in his Test career, Ishant Sharma was known to be a bowler who could bowl long spells and set up a batsman only to help other bowlers to take wickets but the time has changed since 2018. A veteran of 96 Test matches, Ishant now holds the top position in the bowling line-up and spearheads the pace attack consisting Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
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A large credit of the rise of Indian pacers goes to Ishant, whose form really changed the way and Indian bowlers have started taking 20 wickets in abroad as well. Consistency, as Ishant revealed, is a major factor behind India doing well.
Following the Ranji Trophy fixture against Hyderabad, the 31-year-old said that the backing and consistency have played a major role in the rise of the Indian pacers over the years.
“We share our experiences. 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 are reserved but now the communication level is very good. Earlier, 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 have a pool of 3-4 fast bowlers (now with Jasprit Bumrah), that increases communication. Earlier, there would be 6-7 bowlers, communication wasn’t there,” he said.
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While the Indian batting let the visitors down on the tour of England in 2018, the all-round brilliance in Australia saw Virat Kohli and co defeat Australia down under in 2018/19. Pace bowling unit had a major role to play in that success as the pacers once again stepped up to take responsibility.
Ishant also said that the experience that the bowlers has also played a role in their success. “During Dhoni’s time, some of us didn’t have that much experience. But when Virat took over, all of us had gained a fair amount of experience by then and that helped,” he said.
With India set to New Zealand and Australia in 2020, pacers will again to do the heavy lifting and have to ensure that they get those 20 wickets in a Test.