Making it Big!
Prima facie , the breed fast bowler evokes images of being an aggressive , strongly built with a teasing attitude who is not ready to give an inch .Add to it the tendency to give a stare for every shot hit by the batsman, you have a mould of a fast bowler ready to make life miserable for batsman . The description doesn’t quite match with Ishant Sharma though.
Blessed with a good height, lanky, with tarzensque hairstyle he brings back memories of Javagal Srinath of 1992, when he first broke into the international circuit.
The youngster reposed the faith, the selectors showed in him by picking up wickets of the front line batsman regularly on the tour down under.
The one thing that sets him apart from the present crop of bowlers is the pace at which he moves the ball either ways at speed consistently in excess of 140 Km/h which makes the batsman hurry onto their shots .Clearly, he adapted quickly to the Australian conditions well and pitched the ball up, when a young lad would be tempted to pepper the batsman with short pitch stuff. The height helps him to extract disconcerting bounce from the surface. The run up looks smooth and often one sees the possibility of using the shoulders for getting the ball to jump. As he comes over the wicket and almost a similar style as the Javagal Srinath , he plants doubts in the mind of the batsman whether to leave or to play , and induces the batsman to make mistake . Given the promise that he presents, India have to handle Ishant with care , as one would be tempted to play in every single game .
At the MCG, the cricket lovers watched exhibition of quality fast bowling to the world’s best batsman, Ponting. The spell he bowled to Ricky Ponting was clearly one of the best in quite some time
where troubled him with his immaculate line and angle Ponting was clueless with the deliveries almost pitching at the same spot, with some holding its line and some darting back in towards him .He scratched his way through for a 9 over spell before nicking one to Dravid .What was heartening to see the stamina and the maturity in line and length.
He is only 19, and it is amazing that he is not overawed by the occasion of playing for India .As the time progresses developing a delivery leaving the batsman would make him more lethal .But as his career shapes up, he will have to learn the finer aspects of fast bowling, using the crease judiciously and using the slower ball as a potent weapon, to add variety to his repertoire
Looks like the spin bowlers paradise and land of elegant batsman has got a new exciting fast bowler.
Ishant will have to be carefully nurtured and shielded against huge expectations and injuries
There have been more gains for India on the tour of Australia. The injured Rudra Pratap Singh bowled with great spirit in the Test series. Like Ishant, he can surprise batsmen with unexpected bounce.Zaheer Khan, nursing an injury, is back in with a vengeance and Munaf would only improve from here on.
India’s pace attack which was considered as a Achilles’ heel before the tour began has unraveled a young fast bowler, ready to take on the mantle of a strike bowler. Indian cricket is poised at an interesting juncture with a potent pace attack and healthy competition for places
