Feeling a lot better and in rhythm, says Ishant Sharma after inspirational spell on Day 3
The 25-year old Indian speedster who gifted India with 3 crucial wickets in his 7-over spell in the afternoon session of Day 3 against England, said after a tiring day that he doesn’t believe in being the ‘leader’ of the attack yet.
"I'm not the leader of this attack. I don't think about such things. All of us bowlers are of the same age. If at all, sometimes I share my experiences of past matches because I have played quite a few, but there's nothing like the leader of the attack," said the Delhi lad who turned the course of the match earlier in the day’s play with quick wickets of Sam Robson, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell.
Admitting that he was not in the best of form in the two warm-up games, in which he conceded 2-64 at an economy of 7.11 against Leicestershire and 0-49 & 0-10 against Derbyshire, Ishant was confident that he is shaping up well.
"I struggled with my rhythm in the two practice matches. These things happen when you haven't been playing cricket for too long. I didn't play much cricket before that and even in IPL, I played a very few games. I was bowling in the nets a lot but bowling in the middle is different. Now I'm feeling a lot better and feel in rhythm, so I think I am bowling well," Ishant said at the post-match press conference.
Ishant removed the two set batmsen in Sam Robson and Gary Ballance – both leg before, before surprising Ian Bell with extra bounce. Adding more fuel to the pitch debate, the pacer who has picked up two five wicket hauls in India’s last two Tests in New Zealand, echoed his teammate Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s comments.
"We cannot control the pitch. India is touring England and not the other way round. We will bowl on whatever pitch they will give us and try to take 20 wickets. The good thing about this pitch is that we know exactly how to bowl on such pitches.
"I have played enough matches to know on which wicket what length to bowl, how to bowl, when the ball is swinging or not swinging and when you have reverse swing. I'm just relying on my experience on this tour," said Ishant.
Speaking about his fellow seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar: "Bhuvi is a tremendous bowler. He used the conditions very well and bowled within his limitations. He knows that he can use the new ball well and he did just that, he is a clever bowler. We have been talking and chatting quite a lot while bowling together, so I am enjoying bowling with him," he said.
On India’s chances of a win, the pacer pointed out that they need to break the last wicket pair of Joe Root and James Anderson, who added 54 runs in the last session as soon as possible.
"We cannot say anything about victory yet. The pitch won't change a lot, it will only get slower. Things can change quickly in cricket, you might get a lot of wickets in a session and then you see that last two wickets have both scored more than 50 runs.
"We can only try to get the last wicket quickly tomorrow, put up a good score and then get them out. We cannot even say how long that will take, how many sessions needed to bowl them out again on such a pitch," the right-arm pacer concluded with caution.