The Hindu : Sport : Ishant has been the find of the season

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Ishant has been the find of the season

G. Viswanath

He has improved a lot in the last 12 months, says Dilip Vengsarkar

VADODARA: Dilip Vengsarkar, chairman of the selection committee, is pleased that the investment on fast bowler Ishant Sharma has paid off.

Here to watch the Duleep Trophy match between England Lions and Central Zone, he said that Ishant has improved remarkably and set an example for the others.

Excerpts:

Q: Ishant’s rapid progress has been encouraging. Has he been the find of the season?

A: Without doubt, he has been the find of the season. He has progressed a lot skill-wise and fitness-wise in the last 12 months. He has demonstrated in ample measure that he has improved with every outing. The selection committee invested in him for the series in England. His wrist position had restricted him to bowl only inswingers then.

He has worked hard since with Venkatesh Prasad and happily the results are showing. He has developed the delivery that goes away, and made the straighter one a little more potent and uses it to good effect.

Ishant has the height and has improved his fitness, and that has largely helped in his progress. With height he can extract good bounce. At this level, a bowler must bring in variety to keep the batsmen guessing all the time.

The Australian wickets have pronounced bounce. When he bowls on the wickets in the sub-continent, he has to change his length. He has to retain whatever he has learnt in Australia.

There has been a steady supply of seamers in the last three years. You must be happy with this development.

Unless India’s domestic tournaments are played on true wickets, we will not get a constant supply. There is no purchase for the fast bowlers in most grounds in India. It’s heart-breaking for the fast bowlers. No one wants to bowl from 25 yards only to be hit off the front foot time and again.

There are a few pitches like the one at Baroda (Motibaug Palace ground), Mohali, Nagpur, Mumbai and Chepauk. Such good and true wickets make the competition interesting; the batsmen can also play shots and the overall standard of the game improves.

There is actually a dearth of quality seamers and spinners. We have a few newcomers in Praveen Kumar and spinners in Piyush Chawla, Praveen Gupta and Pragyan Ojha. They have shown the potential, but they have to put in the hard work. They have to take their game forward like Ishant.

Indians seamers have always done well on overseas tours.

They have looked extremely good and effective in Australia because of the bounce. This is the feature of cricket in Australia right from grade to provincial cricket. That’s why Australia produces good cricketers. Even the spinners have done well there due to the bounce.

I feel that much more has to be done to promote the India ‘A’ tours to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The BCCI ought to be a little more proactive. In the last two years, we have sent the India ‘A’ teams only to Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Has the BCCI’s decision to play the Ranji knock-out at neutral venues been appreciated by the players?

Yes, of course. The neutral venues have shown that good wickets can be prepared. There’s no interference from the home association.

Do you think that the selection of teams at the State and zonal levels has to be done keeping in mind the potential of a player to play for India?

It’s always better to pick players based on their potential to play for the country, but the selectors should also try to maintain the balance of the team for a particular game.

Your committee has given sufficient indications that the composition of the team for the ODIs is gradually changing.

We have to first try all of them in ODIs so that they get used to international cricket in different conditions. The transition to Test cricket has to be smooth. You cannot throw them into the deep end and expect them to swim. We have placed our trust on Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Karthick and Gautam Gambhir. They have to focus on their game and back their claims by consistent performances.

Mohammad Kaif appears to have taken his cricket to higher levels.

It’s a good development. He is in good form. He brings additional value as a smart fielder. He has become a definite option now. Performing well in the first-class matches is a must.

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