India vs Australia 2013: Ishant Sharma- the 'tall' tale of wasted talent
Ishant Sharma – time is running out
“I love being the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack and it is a privilege for any fast bowler” – Ishant Sharma.
Before the Australia series began, Ishant Sharma proclaimed his happiness about how he loved being the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack in a very long and candid interview.
With 30 wickets in 18 ODIs last season, he did an acceptable job of leading a malnourished Indian bowling attack in the absence of Zaheer Khan. His claims gained more credence after his match-winning over in the Champions Trophy final that saw India through against England a few months back.
Although he has been quite a disaster in the Test arena, his performances in the ODIs held him in good stead and the stats also leaned towards him.
You might be shocked but Ishant Sharma has a better strike-rate in ODIs than Glenn McGrath, Zaheer Khan, Curtley Ambrose, James Anderson and even the great Wasim Akram. Now, hang on a minute before you dismiss it as a joke. According to the current stats, Ishant Sharma stands as the 19th bowler in the world in terms of all time best ODI strike-rates and only 2nd behind Ajit Agarkar as far as Indians are concerned.
However, in the ongoing series against Australia, here’s what he has dished out, till now:
1st ODI: 7-0-56-0
2nd ODI: 9-1-70-0
3rd ODI: 8-1-63-1
Every bowler goes under the hammer once in a while, but Ishant Sharma, over the last six years, has shown remarkable consistency in being inconsistent.
In 2008, a lanky lad turned Ricky Ponting’s life into a miserable hell in his own country. He ran up, put the ball on an awkward back-of-good-length spot and opened up Ponting like a can of beans in more than one occasion. He didn’t get the ball to swing much but nipped it off the track at a considerable pace to make it very uncomfortable for the Aussie great.
Cut to 2013, he still runs up, puts the ball on that same spot but then disappears into the crowds. That’s been Ishant Sharma’s main problem – he hasn’t evolved, more precisely, he hasn’t improved. In fact, his career has gone nowhere and his performances have spiraled down over the last five years.
It wasn’t supposed to be like that though. He burst onto the international scene with his raw pace and was regarded as the perfect foil for Zaheer Khan. He never swung the ball but hit the deck hard to get exaggerate movement off the track with his height helping him to get the extra lift even on dead pitches.
However, he has never been a prolific wicket taker in any format of the game. He has bowled probing spells in Test matches and has picked up occasion three wicket hauls in ODIs but has always lacked the capability of running through a side.
But even if he didn’t pick up wickets, there were occasions when he looked menacing as a fast bowler- bending his back, running in hard and roughing up the batsmen with his pace and awkward bounce. The commentators harped on “how unlucky he was” but most importantly, the effort was visible.
He was always good but never got better. Sourav Ganguly once said, “Ishant has to learn to pick wickets now.”
He was right – bowling well is one thing but picking up wickets is an art. Picking up wickets is a skill and not many bowlers can master it.
Most bowlers at the international level bowl good deliveries but very few can bowl the wicket taking ones. It look great when a banana out swinger beats the bat or an outrageous leg spinner rips past a batsman but how does it count if it doesn’t induce the elusive edge or wraps the batsman plumb in front?
Of course, it makes for great television and the “Oohs and Aahs” add to the theatrics but at the end of the day, if the wicket column stays empty, no one really remember that great delivery that almost got someone out.