rkt.india Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Ishant Sharma? I'm guessing it would be an image of a tall, young fast bowler coming off a long run-up ball after ball, giving his all for the team. It is this quality that impressed me on India's wretched tour of England, where Ishant ran in with great zest and bowled long spells the whole day, with intensity - all in a losing cause. When others around him were falling like ninepins, Ishant carried on gamely, day after day, showing the same passion for bowling in the last 20 minutes of the day as he did in the first 20. Such bowlers, who are ready to do the hard yards for the team, are a boon to a captain. But there are bowlers of another kind that a captain would much prefer: bowlers who take wickets. This is where Ishant has proved a disappointment so far; for all his talent and commitment he just does not take enough wickets. When I looked at Ishant's bowling record, it took me by surprise. Until recently I hadn't bothered to look at his numbers, for there was so much to like about Ishant on the field that it did not matter what was on paper. Ishant has played 43 Tests at an average of 36.8. That's right, the bowler India keep looking at as a bright young prospect, expected to take over the leadership role from Zaheer Khan, has already played 43 Tests. Forty-three Tests makes you a seasoned Test player - a player for the present, not one for the future. It's time Indian cricket started looking at Ishant that way, expecting results from him today instead of tomorrow. Let's now move to the other eye-catching number in his bowling record - the average. Bowling averages somehow never get as much media- and mind-space as batting averages do. When it comes to gauging the success of a player, it's simpler for fans to understand batting averages. To give you a very rough estimate of Ishant's bowling average in batting parlance: an average of 36 runs per wickets is about equal to averaging just under 35 per innings for a batsman. Would India be tolerant of a batsman who averaged around 35 after 43 Tests? Ishant's strike rate of 64.8 is also below par. This means he needs to bowl nearly 11 overs to get one wicket. Granted, India are not spoilt for choice when it comes to seam bowlers, but that Ishant has generally been an automatic pick in the playing XI and his bowling returns are never a talking point suggests we have all been slightly swayed by his demeanour on the field. It is always "unlucky" Ishant, a bowler who deserves more wickets for his lion-hearted performance in the field. "Unlucky Ishant Sharma" has become his brandname in Indian cricket today. But there is no such thing as an unlucky batsman or an unlucky bowler. Over a short span, yes, but if someone is an "unlucky" bowler over a long period of time, he is simply not bowling enough wicket-taking balls. And that is the simple truth about Ishant - he has just not bowled enough potential wicket-taking balls, and it reflects in his record. Following a good series in the West Indies, where he picked up 22 wickets, his dry run resumed in England. After Ishant had another fruitless day in the field in the recent home series against West Indies, I asked Courtney Walsh, a fellow panelist on a TV show, for his take on Ishant. Walsh also bowled the same genre of seam as Ishant does, and he made an observation about what prevented Ishant from being a more potent wicket-taking bowler: the head falling away at the time of delivery, and the uncertain position of the wrist behind the ball when he lets it go were his two main deficiencies, Walsh said. Of course, this is not the first time these aspects of Ishant's bowling have been pointed out, but it is sad to see that these two critical issues have remained largely unaddressed. All fast bowlers will tell you that the head falling away sideways at the time of delivery kills much of the speed, especially when the ball is pitched up. It's an important reason why Ishant is never quick when he pitches the ball up, and why the yorker is not a real weapon for him. This, along with his wrist action - where the two fingers on the seam tend to slide away rather than remain behind the seam when the ball is released - greatly diminishes the movement he would otherwise get in the air and off the pitch, and the zip. When he tries to get the ball into that full-length area, it just does not respond. It reacts better when it's pitched shorter, which is why he feels compelled to bowl that length. But when the ball is short you don't find the edges, the leg-befores and the bowleds, as often. And that is what makes Ishant an "unlucky" bowler in Indian cricket. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/548557.html ________________________________________________________________________ Well written by Sanju Manju.
Tiger80 Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Nice article Ishant is a tried and tested failure ,but the problem is we don't have any replacement for him.
saneindian Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Perth test is his last chance to revive his career. If he cannot pick wickets even at Perth, let him play a season or two of county cricket and bowl lots of overs in domestic cricket working on the obvious technical flaws in his bowling. Even if it means being away from the team for the nxt 1-2 years, so be it. Do not pick him unless he has rectified the glitches in his bowling. An entire season of county cricket with a good county side under a professional bowling coach could help him become a better bowler. Key question is does he want to improve and will the BCCI let him play county cricket?
amiret Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 The truth about Isssshhhhhhaaaaant. in Australia Strike Rate 113 , Avg 65.88 in England Strike Rate 94.6 , Avg 58 in SA Strike Rate 79.4 , Avg 48.1 in NZ Strike Rate 70.7 , Avg 42
Andrew Peter Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 He is a panauti just like fletcher , whether or not he bowls well its just not in his destiny to pick wickets and win matches for India .
Needforspeed Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Anyway after the Australian Series he will be out of cricket for at least 8 months due to his surgery. Time for Ishant to introspect. Meanwhile if someone like Aaron or Dinda start performing well, then he will have to work hard to make a comeback.
saneindian Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Despite all the faults with Ishant, the biggest thing is his favour is his age. At the same age of 23, no one other than Kapil paaji had played more tests or taken more wickets than him. Maybe the team management has been guilty of overbowling him even when he has looked like struggling for rhythm , e.g SA tour last year or England tour this year. He has got everything needed to be a successful test bowler, is hard working, has got the pace, can move the ball. Needs some consistency which will come through working on the technical glitches which keep creeping in his bowling action and run up.
nsareen Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Well to me it's the length he bowls at, i believe no bowler in the world is perfect, they all have some technical glitches, but they know the strengths and stick to that to get the results, hence no one talks about the glitches, people like walsh only talk when ishant isn't getting any wickets. If he manages that, people will forget the glitches he has. But will he get the wickets with the glitches he has is an open question.
BeautifulGame Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 After Ishant had another fruitless day in the field in the recent home series against West Indies, I asked Courtney Walsh, a fellow panelist on a TV show, for his take on Ishant. Walsh also bowled the same genre of seam as Ishant does, and he made an observation about what prevented Ishant from being a more potent wicket-taking bowler: the head falling away at the time of delivery, and the uncertain position of the wrist behind the ball when he lets it go were his two main deficiencies, Walsh said. Of course, this is not the first time these aspects of Ishant's bowling have been pointed out, but it is sad to see that these two critical issues have remained largely unaddressed. ANd the bigger question is what the **** is our bowling coach doing if he cant correct these obvious flaws in Ishant's action.I have seen these issues pointed out for nearly 2 years yet he hasnt been able to correct.Surely thats what the bowling coaches are for?
Pagalpanti Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Still believe he will come good If 43 tests aren't enough to sort out your mistakes, I doubt he can ever come good. But he'll get a lot of chances given we don't have much choice in bowling department anyway.
CG Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 He is very young still True,Fact is he needs a good bowling coach ,His problems can be sorted as he had a good seam position during 2008-10 and he was suceessful.
Sooda Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 ANd the bigger question is what the **** is our bowling coach doing if he cant correct these obvious flaws in Ishant's action.I have seen these issues pointed out for nearly 2 years yet he hasnt been able to correct.Surely thats what the bowling coaches are for? +(8976-8975)
Viki_J Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 He is a panauti just like fletcher ' date=' whether or not he bowls well its just not in his destiny to pick wickets and win matches for India .[/quote'] It his hard luck dude...!!
Viki_J Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 True' date='Fact is he needs a good bowling coach ,His problems can be sorted as he had a good seam position during 2008-10 and he was suceessful.[/quote'] ya i also agree.. he needs a good coach...he is still a kid !
Vijay.Sharma Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 Ishant has become a Pissant. Just drop him and move on
adi B Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 The truth about Isssshhhhhhaaaaant. wow thats really bad!!!! cant understand why a fast bowler should finish with those terrible figures, obviously this guy doesnt have brains, but a fast bowler should know how to bowl yorker,slower delivery,three card trick,good bouncer,reverse swing etc, which makes him lethal but ishant right now doesnt possess even 1 of them
The Realist Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 A bowler with his average would have been axed ages ago from the Eng, Aus & SA teams. Its just the poverty of bowling resources that keeps him in this side. Not improved at all in 4 years and there's only so long you can play the he's still young card. Needs to buck up his ideas as takes his place for granted - a spell at a county would help but not sure how much he would learn as he does not appear the brightest.
adi B Posted January 11, 2012 Posted January 11, 2012 maybe this bum can take some inspiration from this.... on one hand ishant on other hand AMBROSE!!!!! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5G4pqb4nns]Curtley Ambrose devastating spell of 7 for 1 run v Australia - YouTube[/ame]
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