Jason Gillespie reveals the reason behind Ishant Sharma becoming a more lethal bowler
The rise of Ishant Sharma from being a workhorse of the Indian bowling attack to leading the charge as a wicket-taker has been staggering.
A lot of that is due to the consistent line and length that he is being able to bowl, and his ability to present an upright seam. He has been helped in achieving this by former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie when he was at Sussex for the 2018 season.
Gillespie told the TOI,
"Ishant was keen to explore ways where he could create more wicket-taking opportunities. Things we spoke about included wrist position for swinging and seaming the ball and the best lengths to bowl.
"We also spoke about bowling over and around the wicket to the left-handlers depending on how much the ball is swinging."
Gillespie also spoke about how Ishant developed a habit of bowling a fuller length rather than a back of the length or short ball that he used to bowl earlier on a consistent basis.
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And he believes that has helped Ishant picking up more wickets than he expected him to pick.
"If you look at how Ishant is taking his wickets, he is bowling a fuller length on average. Rather than bowling back of a length, he is bowling about knee roll/top of pad length.
"As a coach sometimes, it is the language you use with players that can help. We spoke about “looking to put a dent in the pitch on that fuller length” as opposed to saying “hit the pitch hard.”