JOIN USStruggling Ishant needs to get his act together
Ishant Sharma might have felt a sense of belonging coming to Australia, the place of his rise to stardom four years ago.
He might have been hoping to dig gold here with a forceful effort on pitches that suit his brand of bowling. But after three Tests, Ishant has only four wickets against his name. His average (81) and his strike-rate (131.2) would have been more ideal for a batsman.
In contrast, another youngster Umesh Yadav has much more impressive figures to show. The Vidarbha pacer has taken 12 wickets, same as Zaheer Khan, at 32.66 and his strike rate is 43.5, and now he is clearly the second choice bowler ahead of Ishant.
It’s a worrying trend for a young fast bowler who has already played 44 Tests over five years, and by now he should have sealed his berth as the successor of Zaheer. It’s quite fortunate for Ishant that he’s facing less competition at the moment as Varun Aaron and S Sreesanth are injured while Irfan Pathan, Abhimanyu Mithun, who is a part of the Indian squad in Australia, and RP Singh are still to hit the top gear. But Ishant might not have that luxury for long as the selectors will be forced to look beyond a bowler who has taken 132 wickets at 37.19, and requires 11 overs for every wicket.
It’s all the more disappointing because Ishant had a brilliant beginning to the season in the West Indies, leading the Indian attack superbly in the absence of Zaheer. Ishant’s rich haul of 22 wickets from three Tests indicated him finally coming to terms with his responsibilities as the future leader of Indian pace attack. But once again he flattered to deceive.
In the away series against England and the West Indies at home, the Delhi pacer took just 16 wickets from seven Tests (average 61.06, strike-rate: 105.9), and there were concerns about his ankle. But he stayed away from surgery citing his ambition for a crack at the Australians.
It has been a disappointing attempt so far, and many reasons have been pointed out to explain the failures of Ishant – wrong wrist position, head falling away at the point of delivery, and the non-favourable alignment of his stars that prevents him from taking wickets even when he bowls well. It’s quite hard to perceive what the cricketing gods hold against a 23-year old hardworking pace bowler!
But one point is lost between all these arguments – the role of bowling coach Eric Simons. Before the arrival of the South African, Ishant has taken 54 wickets from 19 Tests at an average of 34.42 and his strike rate was 63.5. After the arrival of Simons (January 10, 2010), the right-arm pace bowler’s performance hasn’t touched the upward curve, grabbing 78 wickets from 25 Tests. Ishant’s average in this period has gone up to 39.11, and his strike rate too has touched 66.33.
So, it’s clear that Simons’ guidance has not made much difference to Ishant’s bowling in two years, and more alarmingly he has been repeating the same errors. Ishant’s bowling during the third Test against Australia at Perth embodied the ills that curb his progress.
Coming in as the fourth bowler, Ishant had the arduous task of stopping a marauding David Warner. But he started off with a short delivery down the leg side, and there were four more balls in the same direction in that over, while one length ball was smashed over the bowler’s head for a monster six.
He continued the same pattern in the second over, and this time Warner and Ed Cowan cashed in on the meek leg-side offerings to gather 13 runs from it. Ishant stood with his hands on the hips, and he knew the battle was lost. Ishant was pitching the ball too short to make any impact, and sadly, he couldn’t learn from the methods of Australian pacers, pitching it up on and around the off-stump consistently.
Ishant had recently expressed his desire to play 100 Tests for India, but now that looks a distant dream, unless he discovers a way to take wickets or Simons helps him to find one. It needs to happen soon for Ishant is too precious a commodity to lose.