Communication among Indian pacers is far better now, reckons Ishant Sharma
Its been 12 long years since Ishant Sharma made his debut for India and has played with some great fast bowlers like Zaheer Khan and learned a lot from him. However, Ishant Sharma has come into his own since the last couple of years and at the age of 31 has surely become the spearhead of the Indian pace attack. With the help of former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie, he has started to bowl a more consistent line and length and has also added pace to his bowling.
The pace quartet of Ishant, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah and the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar waiting in the wings, India have at the moment is capable of challenging any team in their own condition. According to Ishant, a lot of credit for this goes to the communication between the bowlers and the way that the bowlers complement each other. Ishant said,
"I have started enjoying my cricket more. It's fun to play now. In the initial phase of my career, I used to put immense pressure on myself. I don't do that anymore."
"We are very proud that fast bowlers are dominating. When Shami and Umesh came in, our attack was inexperienced. So we didn't take wickets in tandem."
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Ishant believes that a lot of credit for India's success in the pace depeartment goes to the experiences that the fast bowlers share with each other which helps the new bowler to get setlled in to the conditions quickly. The trio of Ishant, Umesh and Shami have picked up 81 wickets in a calender year-an extraordinary feat. Ishant asserted,
"We share our experiences. Not just me but they also give their feedback about how the pitch behaves, about conditions. The communication is far better now. First, we didn't know each other a lot, you are reserved but now communication level is very good."
"There is consistency in the team and Ishant believes that it is more easier to bowl when each fast bowler in the team already knows his role."
"If you know that you have a pool of 3-4 fast bowlers (now with Jasprit Bumrah), that increases communication."