Ishant Sharma - Overrated, Inconsistent?

[zubinpepsi]

First and foremost thing for a bowler in shorter version is control. You should be able to pitch the ball where you want. I don't think Ishant possess that. In Tests you can get away with wayward deliveries. In shorter formats you can't. Why do you think bracken is a top ODI bowler not a Test bowler. Because he possess great control.

but shudnt that be also a good thing for tests.. so why hes not a test bowler?

[cowboysfan]

well he has played lik 11 matches so far.. and no improvement to show off still.. and his bowling in the test/odi is also fading , if u look at the last series... his good match/series was oz at home and thts abt it..

his economy rate was 7.8 in IPL1 and now its 7.02 .I guess this can be attributed to the SA pitches but i would like to think he has improved a little bit.

[zubinpepsi]

Ishant is suffering from the traditional disease indians players suffer from.. early success leads to complaceny and arrogance... Sreesanth got a 5fer in johannesburg... and people were amazed at his seam position.. he was praised like theres no tomorrow.. n look where hes now.. no.1 clown... im afraid Ishant is treading on the same path...:nervous: im so disappointed with him...... :(

[jf1gp_1]

Ishant is a great find for us i think everyone would agree on that. What we do forget is how young he is, like srinath, zaheer he needs time to settle down which he will. With exp he will get consistant. Just like a couple of good games dont make Ishant and Zaheer best opening bowlers in world, a couple of bad t20, odis dont make him a bad bowler either. Have patience Ishant has it all to be a great bowler. Ofcourse as soon as Ishant has a good game with the ball , someone will bump this thread with 'egg on your face' comment but thats us fans not bowler.

[cowboysfan]

First and foremost thing for a bowler in shorter version is control. You should be able to pitch the ball where you want. I don't think Ishant possess that. In Tests you can get away with wayward deliveries. In shorter formats you can't. Why do you think bracken is a top ODI bowler not a Test bowler. Because he possess great control.

i think you are right.In t20s and odis you need to have good control with your changes and variations of pace and length and you also need to disguise it well.

[Sachinism]

I don't think Ishant should play T20, stick to the other formats He can get extremely costly and often lets his emotions take over

[Guest gaurav_indian]

Ishant is suffering from the traditional disease indians players suffer from.. early success leads to complaceny and arrogance... Sreesanth got a 5fer in johannesburg... and people were amazed at his seam position.. he was praised like theres no tomorrow.. n look where hes now.. no.1 clown... im afraid Ishant is treading on the same path...:nervous: im so disappointed with him...... :(

Yeah we can see that in the matches.

[cowboysfan]

I don't think Ishant should play T20, stick to the other formats He can get extremely costly and often lets his emotions take over

i am sure Ishant will disagree with this but the fact is he wouldnt get even 1/4th of his 1 million price tag in the next auction.

[Don Sharma]

Ishant should be kept outta of T20 for the betterment of himself as well as the team. He needs to develop a good slow delivery and the slow bouncer that Polly bowls, given Ishant's height it can be a great add-on to his arsenal. Even in ODIs he is losing his touch, he needs to add some variations to his bowling until then he will suffer in the shorter/shortest forms of the game.

[Ram]

Somehow, this thread’s title bears a striking resemblance to those million threads our beloved neighbors create on our players, so that they can start their ‘bashathon’ on Indian cricketers. To suggest that Ishant is arrogant and has become complacent because of initial successes is absolutely ludicrous. Sure, he may not have sustained his initial successes, but that does not mean he is not trying or has become complacent. It may just be that he is probably not good enough or batsman have found ways to tackle him better. Ishant is a gem in India’s cricketing crown. He’s one of the best things to have happened to Indian cricket in the last 2 decaded. To bash/criticize him at the drop of a hat for being ‘complacent’ or ‘not trying hard enough’ with no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes hardwork he may or may not putting is just plain stupidity.

[vvvslaxman]

but shudnt that be also a good thing for tests.. so why hes not a test bowler?

Yes it is. Ishant has better control in Tests. Because batsmen don't go after him there. The mindset is different at Test level. Once in a while you can bowl a wide one and get away there. He is only 20. So i would give him time. I would use him sparingly in shorter versions. They should use the likes of Praveen in shorter versions. He should evolve at test level. That is where you hone your skills. He is alerady playing too much for his age. I remember Irfan. When he made debut he was good. But in his very 3rd tests he bowled like 45 overs in an innings. He really lost it there.

[cowboysfan]

Somehow, this thread’s title bears a striking resemblance to those million threads our beloved neighbors create on our players, so that they can start their ‘bashathon’ on Indian cricketers. To suggest that Ishant is arrogant and has become complacent because of initial successes is absolutely ludicrous. Sure, he may not have sustained his initial successes, but that does not mean he is not trying or has become complacent. It may just be that he is probably not good enough or batsman have found ways to tackle him better. Ishant is a gem in India’s cricketing crown. He’s one of the best things to have happened to Indian cricket in the last 2 decaded. To bash criticize at the drop of a hat for being ‘complacent’ or ‘not trying hard enough’ with no knowledge of the behind-the-scenes hardwork he may or may not putting is just plain stupidity.

MM-what people are grumbling about is that there has been no noticeable improvement in his bowling in T20s and ODIs.If you are the height of Ishant then it will reasonable to expect him to learn to bowl some good slower balls and off cutters etc but so far we havent seen that but that doesnt mean Ishant doesnt have the ability.

[Ram]

MM-what people are grumbling about is that there has been no noticeable improvement in his bowling in T20s and ODIs.If you are the height of Ishant then it will reasonable to expect him to learn to bowl some good slower balls and off cutters etc but so far we havent seen that but that doesnt mean Ishant doesnt have the ability.

Lol, to judge him based on his performances in T20, a form of the sport where even the most established bowlers routinely get hammered and then to say things like ‘He is arrogant.. he is complacent’ is absolutely the wrong thing to do. And all of us have seen enough of Ishant to know that he is an extremely intelligent bowler who has the capability to improvise in the LOIs he plays. But T20 is harsh on the bowlers. Experienced pros get carted all over, what d’ya expect a 21 year old to do? Bowl maidens? I will accept that his performances so far have been below the expectations. As one of premier quicks of the world, you’d have expected him to make a match-winning difference in atleast 2 or 3 matches so far. That has not happened. But I certainly have a big problem in people calling him names that he does not deserve.

[graphic23]

Lol, to judge him based on his performances in T20, a form of the sport where even the most established bowlers routinely get hammered and then to say things like ‘He is arrogant.. he is complacent’ is absolutely the wrong thing to do. And all of us have seen enough of Ishant to know that he is an extremely intelligent bowler who has the capability to improvise in the LOIs he plays. But T20 is harsh on the bowlers. Experienced pros get carted all over, what d’ya expect a 21 year old to do? Bowl maidens? I will accept that his performances so far have been below the expectations. As one of premier quicks of the world, you’d have expected him to make a match-winning difference in atleast 2 or 3 matches so far. That has not happened. But I certainly have a big problem in people calling him names that he does not deserve.

I honestly will disagree with this point here. If you've seen how many catches on average are dropped by Kolkata and how poor their ground fielding is, its absolutely no surprise that he's been unable to get more wickets. I don't see the point in judging him based on this format. Prior to the last over, he had only given away 21 runs from 3 overs. In his last over, it went a bit awry. It can happen to anyone. Just earlier this year, he bowled a terrific death over spell in Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI there. He was wayward all the way up until the end, and bowled a terrific over to get us home. I think sometimes, perspective is lost because of how many games are being played. He's been on the road for a LONG time. The #1 rated bowler in Test cricket is unable to get a game for his team. His only disappointing Test match has been the 2nd match at Napier, and even there, a fair few catches were dropped. At least he brings some emotion to a side that has none, and is quite dead at the moment. I just don't see any reason to panic.

[graphic23]

And here is the over he bowled, in which he gave away 19 runs:

17.1 Sharma to Boucher, no run, yorker outside off, Boucher already making room is too far from the ball 17.2 Sharma to Boucher, 1 run, that was a powerful shot, a half-volley outside off, and Boucher went hard at it, but straight to sweeper-cover 17.3 Sharma to Taylor, FOUR, mid-off is up, Taylor sees it, and this time goes straight, Taylor hits this length ball over mid-off, he is keeping them alive here 17.4 Sharma to Taylor, FOUR, almost bowled him, and that's four, this is a good yorker, Taylor looks to go on side, gets an inside edge that misses the stumps and the keeper, we are in for a tight one 17.5 Sharma to Taylor, 1 run, moves across, gets too close to the pitch, can't get the elevation, and gets a single to sweeper-cover 17.6 Sharma to Boucher, (no ball) SIX, that's a stupid stupid thing, high fulltoss, on the pads, and Boucher pulls it over deep backward square, what's more - it's a no-ball for height 17.6 Sharma to Boucher, 2 runs, yeah yeah yeah, shouts Boucher as he digs out this yorker, and the yeah means they want two, and Taylor responds superbly, and is back on strike for the next over

17.1, 17.4, 17.5, 17.6: Yorker length deliveries. Two bad deliveries. Why not praise the batsman who hit a four off a yorker? He's not doing great but he's not doing as bad as people think he is either. With regards to the behavior: think about it. A bowler who came into an Indian side that was won more than it has lost, and in a team where he's contributed significantly to its wins. Suddenly, neither the dressing room environment nor the on-field performance have been good by any of the team. Its frustrating to anyone. I don't expect Zaheer to behave this way because he's seen the ups and downs of cricket in his stint as a bowler for Indian cricket. Ishant's still young, and has mainly won more than he's lost. Its natural to behave in this manner.

[zubinpepsi]

yea i agree he had done well in shades.. but shudnt he b more inconsistent to b a good bowler.. look at his average .. tests are 34 and in ODIs 30.. hardly earth shattering.. infact our other less ordinary bowlers have around the same stats.. wats the use if he bowls 1 one over good n the rest garbage.. he seems to b off color if u look at his recent matches (i mean the intl matches).. and im afraid tht hes losing it.. and playing for a loser team like KKR doesnt help him.. so do u guys agree that he is gonna be a bad choice for T20WC?

[bunny]

Some people are suggesting Ishant is a line and length bowler and that's why he doesnt belong in T20s. Well guess what, Pollock and Mcgrath were outstanding in the last IPL, and I am sure Ambrose would not have a 7+ economy in T20s. In reality, Ishant is just a line bowler, and his length has gone awry big time. Forget yorkers and slow balls, first get your length right. It's one of the reasons he had a bad NZ tour. In fact, it was Sachin who was trying to re-teach him the art of incutters during the NZ tour, which once upon a time was so natural to him. I'd actually not blame Ishant but his coaches. Somehow they have not paid a close attention to him in the last 6 months.

[Cricketics]

you guys have overreacted a lot on Ishant.. he has been decent through out this tournament... It's just he hasn't had bagful of wickets.. He would have been dropped by kkr and someoen else might have played had he not been bowling well.. he has bowled decent and lot of times provided some relief for kkr and hence he continues to get to play in every game.

[bunny]

you guys have overreacted a lot on Ishant.. he has been decent through out this tournament... It's just he hasn't had bagful of wickets.. He would have been dropped by kkr and someoen else might have played had he not been bowling well.. he has bowled decent and lot of times provided some relief for kkr and hence he continues to get to play in every game.

He has been ok...and that's been the problem. Your main bowler shouldnt be just ok...The same is the case with SA. Morkel has completely lost his form. I am sure Ishant will bounce back, but it will be nice if it's sooner rather than later.

[cowboysfan]

Lol, to judge him based on his performances in T20, a form of the sport where even the most established bowlers routinely get hammered and then to say things like ‘He is arrogant.. he is complacent’ is absolutely the wrong thing to do. And all of us have seen enough of Ishant to know that he is an extremely intelligent bowler who has the capability to improvise in the LOIs he plays. But T20 is harsh on the bowlers. Experienced pros get carted all over, what d’ya expect a 21 year old to do? Bowl maidens? I will accept that his performances so far have been below the expectations. As one of premier quicks of the world, you’d have expected him to make a match-winning difference in atleast 2 or 3 matches so far. That has not happened. But I certainly have a big problem in people calling him names that he does not deserve.

i think you misundterstood my point-i am judging him by t20s and ODIs yes but FOR T20s and ODIs only.Tests are completely different where nobody will go after ishant and not expect to get out.