Ishant Sharma: MS Dhoni instructed me to bowl bouncers

Ishant Sharma

London, July 21 (IANS) Pace spearhead Ishant Sharma credited captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for instructing him to bowl bouncers which helped India win the second Test at Lord's here on Monday to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

After drawing the first Test at Trent Bridge, India won the second match by 95 runs. Right-arm pacer Ishant rattled the England batsmen by bowling bouncers regularly which helped him earn career-best figures of 7/74 and the Man of the Match award.

"Cricket is a great leveller, the way MS bhai handled the team, the way he keeps on motivating the guys. I think all these wickets are not for me, it is only for the captain, he told me you are tall enough, you have to try the bouncer," said the lanky Ishant in the post-match presentation.

The Delhi-born seamer credited his teammates for their performances which aided India in winning their second Test ever at Lord's since 1986.

"The way batsmen played in the first innings, Ajinkya (Rahane) played really well in the first innings, that gave us the momentum. Also the way (Murali) Vijay played, Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) also," added the 25-year-old.