Brilliant Ishant

[jeevan]

Pathan did not produce good spells like Ishant, he produced the odd good delivery. It is easy to compare Ishant to every Indian pacer before him, but there is a difference. Pathan lost swing due to a very strange action simply losing its timing. Ishant Sharma has an orthodox action and his strength (height), will not simply desert him. Pathan was not praised by the Australian media as a possible world beater either - I am not saying that the praise is not overdue, but just reiterating that they are separate circumstances.

Good point, well put. Quite agree.

Ishant is not the fastest (VRV), swingiest (Pathan at one point), most accurate (Munaf?), bounciest (RP?) or tallest (Pankaj) of the Indian pace wannabe's. The only "est" he can reasonably lay claim to in this pack, is the ability to bowl the longest spell of threatening bowling.

 

[Manee]

I'd say that he is faster than VRV Singh, but it is quite irrelevant.

 

[jeevan]

I'd say that he is faster than VRV Singh, but it is quite irrelevant.

He could be, but when VRV came on the scene, being fastest in India was his main gig. (As was Munaf's before he traded it for accuracy). With the exception of Pankaj Singh, all the rest are debatable. (In terms of speed for e.g. - fastest single delivery or average pace over a spell or a match?)

 

[haroon510]

No, but if the media and cricketing fans across the world take your short-sighted aproach and say he's the best Indian seamer since Kapil Dev, and the most complete bowler they've seen in ages, that will ruin him. FFS, something I really hate about cricket is this kind of attitude. He's very promising, but stop creaming your pants over him.

i do agree with the fact that there are alot of indian writers out there to write about stuff like this.. cricinfo.com is the example of this.. if india win a match or series u will see a dozon of topics and articles about players.. would this effect player's performance it is the mater of debate.. and as far as Ishant's case goes.. we would have to wait and see how he perform in the rest this tournment and up coming series..

 

[Dusty Lee]

What a champ **Claps**

Best Indian seamer since the great Kapil Dev, this lad has it all Pace, bounce, seam, swing. The most complete bowler I have seen in ages.

Thats a big call, though India haven't had alot to write home about since Kapil Dev.

I don't think he is that good yet though he does have alot of potential. Give him a few years and see if he is still taking wickets and improving before you heap that sort of praise onto him.

With his physique he reminds me of Bruce Ried, so there may also be injury concerns in the future.

 

[SJS]

Lets just enjoy the guy's bowling instead of going over the top for no reason except that we have a good promising youngster.

 

[Perm]

Lets just enjoy the guy's bowling instead of going over the top for no reason except that we have a good promising youngster.

Yeah, basically what I was trying to so. You were just more diplomatic

 

[Goughy]

Never seen him bowl so motivated by this thread Ive checked out what limited stuff is available.

Interesting.

Ok, Ive been asked to elaborate on this post and give my opinion.

Firstly, Id say its based on limited viewing.

The reason for my comment of interesting is that there are things that are tough to make decisions on.

Firstly he is a tall guy but given that head dropping, you feel he doesnt get as much out of his height as he should. He has got wickets with steep bounce off a length but there is possibly more available there.

Actionwise, like a lot of Indian bowlers Ive looked at, his left arm is quite weak. He brings it in hard but it never gets high, and again he never gets full use of his height.

Looking at his actual bowling it appears to be bowling that would run through lower level and junior cricket (no idea if he did or not) but shouldnt really translate to great success the higher level against quality players. Its quick but not rapid, there is swing but its quite early, there is bounce but it doesnt look angry. There isnt anything that really stands out. However, he appears to have good variation and that is his key.

Those angled in balls will not bring much success in the long run, but its the one that holds its line that he bowls well that will be his main weapon.

His pace and bounce are not what will determine whether he is a success (though they will not hurt), its that 5 balls will come in and then one on off-stump will hold its line and goodbye batsman.

His pace and height are good additions, but he is a suprisingly skillful bowler for one so young.

At the moment he is new. The sophomore season is always tough as little tricks of the trade like this can be worked out.

Back to his action. I love his feet. Great feet position for bowling fast. They are at 45 degrees. like this


I
I
I front foor


_____ back foot

This brings excellent hip and shoulder rotation (even though it does but a great deal of stress on the body).

In conclusion, I find his skill more exciting than the actual physical attributes. Its developed for one so young. For myself, his future success is based on further refinement of his variation rather than adding 5 kph.

He certainly looks a good prospect but its a long way from that to quality International bowler.

Again, this is based on limited viewing.

 

[silentstriker]

Good stuff, thanks!

 

[Pratters]

Wasim Akram said that he has never seen a bowler improve so much so fast. Australia is one of the more difficult places to get the length right, particularly for a new bowler. He seems to be a quick learner which is always a very good thing. Ishant is far from the finished product though. Not even the greatest fast bowlers of all time can claim to be finished products by the end of their first test tour at 19. He is a promising prospect.

 

[Manee]

Firstly he is a tall guy but given that head dropping, you feel he doesnt get as much out of his height as he should. He has got wickets with steep bounce off a length but there is possibly more available there.

I have noticed that many bowlers put their head into the ball quite early in the action, Shoaib Akhtar or Jimmy Anderson are examples. Although someone like Glenn Mcgrath will have a better pace:bounce ratio, the ones who put the head into the delivery will get more pace. They also release the ball closer to the ground, which will mean that it will hit the pitch at a greater pace which can be a method of gaining bounce, especially when you already have long arms.

Actionwise, like a lot of Indian bowlers Ive looked at, his left arm is quite weak. He brings it in hard but it never gets high, and again he never gets full use of his height.

I tend to agree with this but he powers the chest through and that is what is important in a front on action like his.

Looking at his actual bowling it appears to be bowling that would run through lower level and junior cricket (no idea if he did or not) but shouldnt really translate to great success the higher level against quality players. Its quick but not rapid, there is swing but its quite early, there is bounce but it doesnt look angry. There isnt anything that really stands out. However, he appears to have good variation and that is his key.

Those angled in balls will not bring much success in the long run, but its the one that holds its line that he bowls well that will be his main weapon.

I believe you are underestimating him. His angle provides a large dimention to his bowling and because he varies his position on the crease, batsmen cannot set themselves against him. This is how he troubled Ponting. However, I agree that those balls will not bring him wickets, but they will allow him to rough up batsmen.

His pace and height are good additions, but he is a suprisingly skillful bowler for one so young.

It may be pessimistic of me, but I believe that some of his variations may come almost by accident. The massive inswinger which bowled Mohammad Sami in India came from the ball slipping out of the side of the hand, just like the one that holds its line comes because he does not put as much effort in the delivery and so the head stays behind the ball. I could be being sceptical, but I had a session yesterday in which a hugely inconsistent action led to great variation (not much pace though).

In conclusion, I find his skill more exciting than the actual physical attributes. Its developed for one so young. For myself, his future success is based on further refinement of his variation rather than adding 5 kph.

He certainly looks a good prospect but its a long way from that to quality International bowler.

You are right to think that he is not as close to international stardom as many think. However, I believe that physical conditioning to add the 5kph (to take him from a 140kph bowler to a 145kph bowler) will be valuable as long as they do not alter his action. I am against him putting on weight, but not him putting in a few hours in the gym.

 

[Nishant]

a really good prspect for india ATM....he had provided the life that needed to b injected into the bowling attack...good stuff....its been great to see him develop into such a good bowler frm the days of when he was getting whacked around at 8 RPO.....

 

[Goughy]

I have noticed that many bowlers put their head into the ball quite early in the action, Shoaib Akhtar or Jimmy Anderson are examples. Although someone like Glenn Mcgrath will have a better pace:bounce ratio, the ones who put the head into the delivery will get more pace. They also release the ball closer to the ground, which will mean that it will hit the pitch at a greater pace which can be a method of gaining bounce, especially when you already have long arms.

The other stuff in the post is fine as its opinion, but the above is innaccurate. Firstly, Shoaib does not pull his head down at all. He is a good example of someone keeping their eyes up. Anderson does drop his head and its his biggest weakness.

There is no advantage to dropping your head and the theory you mention is not based on any fact.

 

[Manee]

The other stuff in the post is fine as its opinion, but the above is innaccurate. Firstly, Shoaib does not pull his head down at all. He is a good example of someone keeping their eyes up. Anderson does drop his head and its his biggest weakness.

There is no advantage to dropping your head and the theory you mention is not based on any fact.

Damn! You are right about Akhtar, I seem to remember seeing him drop his head at delivery. Looking over it, perhaps it is wrong. Silly point by me.

 

[Goughy]

Damn! You are right about Akhtar, I seem to remember seeing him drop his head at delivery. Looking over it, perhaps it is wrong. Silly point by me.

Cool, no worries.

No doubt Ishant is a prospect. Will be interesting, as I said in my post, how his 2nd season goes as thats usually tougher as teams learn more about you.

 

[Manee]

No doubt Ishant is a prospect. Will be interesting, as I said in my post, how his 2nd season goes as thats usually tougher as teams learn more about you.

Definately, I am certainly sceptical of the 'world beater' tag that people have placed on him so quickly.

 

[gettingbetter]

Definately, I am certainly sceptical of the 'world beater' tag that people have placed on him so quickly.

Yeah, simply put, you could say that Sharma is in Pathan's shoes from 4 years ago.

 

[Dasa]

Except Ishant Sharma has done considerably more than Pathan had done at a similar stage.

 

[Precambrian]

Ishant has grown leaps and bounds in such a short time. He was looking very ordinary in England 6 months previous. Also is the fact that Ishant has almost all of his dismissals induced, ie, caught behind, bowled, LBW, bowled etc, and a big percentage of them were top order batsmen.

I wish someone had the stats of bat-oder wise breakup of dismissals of Lee, Bracken and Ishant in the CB series to facilitate a good comparison.

 

[Precambrian]

Coach wants Ishant to turn non-vegetarian to put on weight

Wiry pacer Ishant Sharma's coach Sharwan Kumar wants the young lad to try non-vegetarian dishes so that he can put on some weight.

Full text of the article can be read here

I've heard about Javagal Srinath turning non veg to put on muscles. But does that theory hold good in today's sport, when there are a lot of alternative medicine available? I mean protien capsules etc?