Pace makes us formidable in Tests: Ishant

London, July 22

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With 238 wickets in 82 Test matches, Ishant Sharma is the most capped player in the Indian Test squad. Along with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami, Ishant hopes to pose a strong challenge to the home batsmen when India face England in the forthcoming five-Test series, starting on August 1.

“Everybody used to say that India can’t produce fast bowlers. Now we have probably eight to nine good fast bowlers, anytime who can play Test cricket for India. We have a pretty good chance to win a series in England and Australia, because of the kind of attack we have,” Ishant said in an interview here.

In a lighter vein, Ishant said: “Whatever I choose is my choice, so I can’t really blame anyone why I didn’t become a spinner and why I’m a fast bowler.”

“Fast bowling, obviously it’s a difficult thing to do, a lot of toll on your body. But it’s a really enjoyable thing as well. It tests your character, tests your strength. It’s really good for me to be a fast bowler. Even in India I’m still happy,” he added. Ishant played a big role in India’s only Test victory during their 2014 tour, when he took 7/74 in the second innings at Lord’s.

“The weather is so nice (in England), you can bowl long spells, the conditions are helpful. The ball is nice, the wicket is favourable. There’s a lot of difference between bowling in England and India,” Ishant said.

Talking about the initial part of his career, Ishant said, “I was not the one who really believed in training. I didn’t have too much knowledge about training. So I wasn’t training that much. When I went home, I was not doing anything. Just relaxing. I think that’s the point, I changed my life and improved my cricket skill level.

More time in gym

“We have become so much fitter because there is so much knowledge, and there is so much contribution from everyone. If you want to play a good amount of cricket for the country, you need to work hard,” he added. “You can’t just bowl or just bat. You need to go into the gym, go running, look after your recovery system, your diet and everything.”

Ishant, who turns 30 in September, says he has matured as a bowler. “Earlier, I was really raw. I didn’t know much about bowling — I would just bowl fast,” he said. “Now I know like, what the batsman is doing, how is the weather, how the wicket is going to behave, then after how many overs what you need to do and everything. You need to adapt, and bowl according to the situation.”

India have won Test series in England three times, in 1971, 1986 and 2007. The last two times, it was the quick bowlers who were instrumental in the wins. Ishant hopes the quicks in the team will do the job this time around. — Agencies