For me, one of the few heartening aspects of the disastrous Indian tours of England and Australia in their respective summers has been to see Ishant Sharma bowling his last over of the day with the same gusto as his first, irrespective of whether the opposition have been at 30-3 or 300-3. In a team that's generally looked dispirited all too easily, one of the youngest members has a lesson to teach the others - don't stop trying no matter how well or badly you are doing.
Granted that since the second Test against England (at Nottingham) he has done poorly picking up just 11 wickets in eight matches but in his last nine matches prior to that he picked up no less than 45 scalps. And if the top five batsmen with all their experience are allowed so much leeway, shouldn't Ishant who's just a little over 23, deserve some too? Sample some other stats -
1) If you look at bowling records for players upto the age of 23, Ishant is the sixth highest wicket taker of all time. With a poor average undoubtedly but he's featured in some of the weakest attacks on very flat pitches and yet has a strike rate better than three of the top 10. Restricting to pace bowlers only puts him at third and (just as a comparison) Stuart Broad is ninth on that list. A similar bowler to Ishant, it took Broad some time to find consistency and England were patient with him and look where he is today. Ditto Craig McDermott.
2) Closer home, comparing Ishant to his closest competitors for a spot in the Indian Test match XI (who've played at least five games), none of his rivals (obviously excluding Zaheer) take significantly more wickets per match, have better averages, or strike rates. PK and Umesh Yadav have shown promise but who knows for how long? And at the very least (unlike Sreesanth, Irfan, RP, or Munaf), Sharma doesn't keep breaking down every so often with an injury.
3) Outside of Test matches, Ishant has played just 22 first class games where his record is not that different indicating that he has been learning his art on the international stage which is never easy. Zaheer Khan's stats post his county stint are testament to what first class experience in different conditions can do for an Indian bowler so its a mystery why more Indian quicks haven't taken that path.
In summary, it would be nice if the media left Ishant alone instead of writing pieces like this one and this one. Encouragement and support is what the lad needs, not questioning his calibre.
Granted that since the second Test against England (at Nottingham) he has done poorly picking up just 11 wickets in eight matches but in his last nine matches prior to that he picked up no less than 45 scalps. And if the top five batsmen with all their experience are allowed so much leeway, shouldn't Ishant who's just a little over 23, deserve some too? Sample some other stats -
1) If you look at bowling records for players upto the age of 23, Ishant is the sixth highest wicket taker of all time. With a poor average undoubtedly but he's featured in some of the weakest attacks on very flat pitches and yet has a strike rate better than three of the top 10. Restricting to pace bowlers only puts him at third and (just as a comparison) Stuart Broad is ninth on that list. A similar bowler to Ishant, it took Broad some time to find consistency and England were patient with him and look where he is today. Ditto Craig McDermott.
2) Closer home, comparing Ishant to his closest competitors for a spot in the Indian Test match XI (who've played at least five games), none of his rivals (obviously excluding Zaheer) take significantly more wickets per match, have better averages, or strike rates. PK and Umesh Yadav have shown promise but who knows for how long? And at the very least (unlike Sreesanth, Irfan, RP, or Munaf), Sharma doesn't keep breaking down every so often with an injury.
3) Outside of Test matches, Ishant has played just 22 first class games where his record is not that different indicating that he has been learning his art on the international stage which is never easy. Zaheer Khan's stats post his county stint are testament to what first class experience in different conditions can do for an Indian bowler so its a mystery why more Indian quicks haven't taken that path.
In summary, it would be nice if the media left Ishant alone instead of writing pieces like this one and this one. Encouragement and support is what the lad needs, not questioning his calibre.
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