WTC Final: In English Conditions Ishant Sharma is the Leader of the Pack, Says Former India Pacer

India is all set to embark on a four-month long tour of England which begins with the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand from the 18th of June in Southampton. With a world class pace attack the visitors will have their best chance of not only winning a major ICC Trophy but also a rare Test triumph in England in the five-match marquee series which commences from August. One of India’s spearheads with the ball would be their most experienced Test bowler in the contingent Ishant Sharma who has had successful tours of the Old Blighty both in 2014 and 2018. Former India fast bowler and currently the bowling coach of the Chennai Super Kings Laxmipathy Balaji, in an Exclusive with Cricketnext, spoke about what the veteran pacer brought to the table and why he would be a real match-winner for India in England.

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Ishant has a total of 43 wickets in 12 Tests at an average of 33.9 and strike rate of 61.3 in England and had delivered a match-winning spell of 7-74 at Lord’s in 2014. He had also given a high impact performance (5-51) in Birmingham in 2018. Ishant has played more than 100 Tests for India and bagged more than 300 wickets and Balaji revealed that his experience will be his biggest weapon in England.

“You cannot keep Ishant away. Somebody with 100 Tests behind him, 300-plus wickets, you need his experience in England, where India has the World Test Championship final first and then the five-Test series. You need his experience to handle the dry phases of a Test, where you wait and watch, time-game happens. The experienced bowlers know how to handle such dry phases when things unfold,” said Balaji.

Balaji added that Ishant had the ability to change the course of a match by delivering a defining spell at any given juncture. He further said that Bumrah will take over the mantle from Ishant soon but currently the former may carry the fast bowlers long with him given his experience of playing in England.

“Say, on the third day of the match, considered the moving day of a Test, when nothing much is planned. You need the experience to handle the third day – say one spell at a time, maiden overs at a time, slowly work around the marathon. Ishant has seen a lot of such situations. There is absolutely no doubt that Bumrah will take over from Ishant, he will take time to overcome such situations where he will not only show how to do it but also take them along to do it.”

Balaji said that for him Ishant was the leader of the pack and his stint with Sussex in 2018 will also benefit his bowling on the tour.

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“At the moment, I will go with Ishant, Bumrah and Shami as the top three. I would look at how the English pitches behave. Ishant has done well there, bowled match-winning spells there, toured with the Test teams three times there. I will use his English county experience of the recent past (Sussex, 2018). He is the leader of the pack,” stated Balaji.

Strategy-wise Balaji stated that he would go with Ishant on the offensive against left-handers with the new ball but otherwise use him as a defensive bowler bowling in the channels with a disciplined line and length. He added that Ishant had the ability to lead a fightback if things didn’t go well for India initially.

“I will put Bumrah and Shami with Ishant, three totally different bowlers where Ishant can play defence and the other two can be on the offence. Ishant with the new ball can be on the offence against the left-handers. I will fall back upon Ishant when the situation goes out of control. He can put things back in place.”

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