Lords test 2011 : Predictions and discussion

[vamos_rafa]

When asked I said I wanted a break: Ishant

LONDON: Ishant Sharma on Sunday defended skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to not give the ball to the in-form bowler at a crucial juncture of the fourth day's play in the Lord's Test against England, saying that he had himself asked the latter for a break. Dhoni left quite a few surprised by not using Ishant -- who had destroyed England's top-order with a hostile spell just before lunch -- straightaway into the second session. "I am also human. I have a body to look after and there are three more Test matches. I had bowled 11 overs in the first session and during the break, Dhoni asked me if I wanted to bowl straightaway after lunch or if I preferred a break. I said I wanted a break," Ishant told reporters. Ishant, who finished with figures of four for 59 in the second innings, credited Zaheer Khan for the success. "I wasn't used to the slope at Lord's and was bowling from the pavilion end while Zaks (Zaheer) wanted me to bowl from the other end. I went my way in the first innings while I went his way in the second," stated Ishant. "From the pavilion end, the slope of the wicket was taking my inswingers further away from the batsmen. When I bowled from the other end today, I was able to control my movement and a few deliveries held their line as well. "One such delivery fetched me the wicket of Ian Bell." Though Ishant was happy with his effort, he was miffed that he didn't pull his weight in the first innings. "I am happy but if I had bowled with the same energy and length in the first innings, we could have been in different position." India had England on the mat at 62 for five but the absence of a fourth bowler hit the visitors hard. "If there was a fourth bowler we could have applied more pressure. One or two wickets at that stage could have put us in a different position." For Ishant the most satisfying moment of the day was when he took the wicket of first innings double centurion Kevin Pietersen with a rather wicked bouncer. "Gautam (Gambhir) was standing at mid-on when I began my over to Pietersen. I asked him should I bowl him a bouncer. He said I could. It's his first ball and you don't know what could happen. "I took a deep breath and bowled the bouncer and it worked." Despite being faced with the prospect of a ban due to slow over-rate, Dhoni left it on his bowlers to bowl the way they wanted to. "We don't want our captain to be banned who is a tremendous batsman and leader. His words to us was if we could cut a minute, just a few seconds it would help. Otherwise he asked us to bowl whatever way we were bowling," Ishant said. As far as India's chances in the match was concerned, Ishant sounded confident despite being set a target of 458. "The one thing about the Indian dressing room is that we are very confident of ourselves, we are always calm whatever is the situation. "We have been positive so far but the conditions in England are absolutely opposite to India. There could be an odd ball which can do something and dismiss you," he said.

Surprising,that he decided to take a break even after the lunch break. But he's a fast bowler who knows his body pretty well. And we cant complain of not meekness from him because he really toils hard. One more thing worth noting is the admiration for MSD. And even MSD gives his players a lot of leeway. But hopefully he doesn get banned in the next test. That would be the final nail in the coffin.

[Roshanrocks]

I knew it... Ishant was exhausted and so didnt bowl immediately after lunch. People are thoroughly underestimating the energy levels required for a pace bowler to bowl long spells and are still unable to understand the difficulty of managing an attack comprising of only 3 bowlers.

[THX_1138]

must be all that IPL fatigue.

[rkt.india]

both PK and Ishant has bowled 100 odd overs in the test...

[deepak_sach]

must be all that IPL fatigue.

Ishant sharma went to WI tour too. A bowler cant bowl 11 overs on the trot. And when he does not get wickets the sword comes out....

[rkt.india]

must be all that IPL fatigue.

He bowled 54 overs in a match and you are talking about IPL.

[deepak_sach]

He bowled 54 overs in a match and you are talking about IPL.

IPL 14 games x 4 =56 overs.-5 overs... 50 overs in IPL.over 1.5 months...... That is nearly 1.1 overs per day.

[Sachinism]

PK and Ishant between them have bowled 114 overs over 3 days this match. I think they deserved a break

[Guest Gunner]

He bowled 11 overs on the tort just before lunch, I think it is only fair that he didn't bowl immediately after lunch.

[Roshanrocks]

Rajiv' date=' usher this guy to the exit please and do make sure he doesn't come back. My admin button isn't working.[/quote'] thank u :hatsoff:

[mishra]

I think in first inning he got out because sidescreen at Lords isnt tall enough. Line of sight from Tendulkars eyes to Stuart Broads wrist at the time of bowl release was going higher then actual Screen. Tendulkar complained about it as well.

[asehgal]

but that was before lunch. Isn't a 40 minute break enough?

[Guest Gunner]

but that was before lunch. Isn't a 40 minute break enough?

No. A 11 over spell for a fast bowler is an immense effort. I can only think of 2-3 fast bowlers who would have bowled more Kapil Dev, Courtney Walsh etc.

[Sid]

rkt.india said that that during the match thread itself ,when all of us were going after Dhoni :icflove:

[asterix]

Oh c'mon..That was an important phase of the match and few overs initially by Ishant would'nt had affected him...The pressure created was lost and we were not able to take any more wickets and were thrashed all over the park. Dhoni and/or Fletcher asked Ishant to do the post match interview on purpose as they were expecting these important questions to be asked. All they have to do is to "instruct" Ishu what to say. This is not the first match where bowlers were overburdoned. Whatever happened to use in-form bowler in short brusts? It wouldn't had hurt to bowl couple of overs immediately after Lunch..Whom they are trying to take the mickey off?

[Sid]

Oh c'mon..That was an important phase of the match and few overs initially by Ishant would'nt had affected him...The pressure created was lost and we were not able to take any more wickets and were thrashed all over the park. Dhoni and/or Fletcher asked Ishant to do the post match interview on purpose as they were expecting these important questions to be asked. All they have to do is to "instruct" Ishu what to say. This is not the first match where bowlers were overburdoned. Whatever happened to use in-form bowler in short brusts? It wouldn't had hurt to bowl couple of overs immediately after Lunch..Whom they are trying to take the mickey off?

Yes we know you were there when Team management was giving "instructions" to Ishant :two_thumbs_up: :finger:

[TheWall]

No big deal if Sachin didn't score a century, we want him to save this Test for India, he'll get the 100 in this series itself...

[Sachinism]

Don't you think Ishant knows he was bowling well, they were in trouble and could be killed off, he really must've felt he's not up to it, to not take the ball

[ganeshran]

:((

[Cricketics]

Come on India - FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT Gotta save this game well. Let's get behind the team. WE CAN DO THIS.. FIGHT INDIA.. FIGHT. LET'S GO INDIA..