The Hindu : Sport : Ishant on cloud nine

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Ishant on cloud nine

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

MEMORABLE DAY: Ishant Sharma’s change of tactics earned him a maiden five-wicket haul.

Bangalore: There was a spring in Ishant Sharma’s steps in the post-lunch session.

And it was also evident in the manner in which he arrived quickly for the media briefing even before the reporters had settled down in their seats.

His maiden five-wicket haul (five for 118) in Test cricket, left Ishant in good cheer.

“It was a flat wicket and was difficult track to bowl on. I changed my line and used the crease well. I tried change of pace also and all these things helped,” Ishant said.

Ishant said that bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad’s inputs helped.

“He told me to change my line and length and to use my height. He discussed a few technical points. I also think on this wicket it will help if you are patient I tried to maintain a good line and length and that is why I got five wickets,” Ishant said.

On conceding nine no-balls, Ishant said: “It is not a good thing conceding no-balls and I realise that I must work on it. But in a match if you start concentrating on no-balls then I think you won’t be able to concentrate on your bowling.”

Lawson’s game plan

Meanwhile Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson outlined his team’s plans in a lucid manner.

“We need eight wickets and if India were to declare and set us a reasonable target, we will chase it. The odd ball is keeping low on this pitch but it seems to be getting better and that is why we fancy ourselves chasing. It’s been a nice wicket to bat on and there is no turn either for the spinners,” Lawson said.

Shoaib Akhtar’s second innings spell has enthused Lawson.

“His first spell today was accurate with a bit of bounce and he got that first wicket (Gautam Gambhir) with sheer pace. India is two wickets down and if we can bowl them out tomorrow, it will be good,” Lawson said.

Lawson was all praise for Misbah-ul-Haq’s unbeaten 133.

“Misbah is such a solid presence at number five. He has done well in this series and may be I can say that he is one of the `elder statesman’ in our team,” Lawson said.

Lawson lauded the perseverance of Yasir Arafat and Ishant Sharma, who bagged five wickets each.

“Yasir and Ishant bowled persistently. Ishant was a bit rusty in the beginning but he hit the right line later. The two got their five wickets for their persistence rather than brilliance.

“If I was to pick the Indian team for Australia, I would pick a tall fast bowler like Ishant who can get the extra bounce,” Lawson said besides adding that the bouncy Australian pitches will be a challenge but was optimistic about India’s `world class batting line-up coping with it.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport