Published 16:33 IST, January 3rd 2020
Jason Gillespie opens up on ultimate advice that turned Ishant Sharma's career around
Jason Gillespie and Ishant Sharma worked together at Sussex in 2018. Ishant Sharma currently has 415 international wickets from 190 matches. He is 31 years old.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Indian cricketer Ishant Sharma rose to prominence during the 2007-2008 season as a promising 19-year-old Indian pacer. However, over the years, Sharma disappointed many cricket lovers by not making the most of his potential in Test cricket. It is only in the last two years that he has made a grand comeback into the scheme of affairs and has been one of India's most-important red ball bowlers.
Jason Gillespie opens up on Ishant Sharma
Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie coached Ishant Sharma during his time with the English county side Sussex in 2018. In an interview with a leading English newspaper, Gillespie reflected back on his experience with Sharma and acknowledged how both of them learnt a lot from each other. He specially mentioned how he helped Sharma focus on bowling fuller deliveries. Gillespie emphasised on his style of communication making the biggest difference to the Indian's bowling as he instructed Sharma to put "a dent in the pitch on the fuller length" instead of the more traditional "hit the pitch hard".
Gillespie credited the focus on bowling fuller lengths as the reason behind Sharma's recent success. Recently, Sharma himself credited the Australian for his turnaround and claimed that coaches in India focus more on the problem and not think about practical solutions towards them. Gillespie later talked about how Australia and India currently field the best pace bowling attacks in the world. However, he tended to lean towards his countrymen - Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood when choosing his favourite bowling line-up although he acknowledged how Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are exciting to watch too.
Ishant Sharma's rise to relevance again
Ishant Shama ended 2019 on a high as he was a part of India's lethal pace trio along with Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav. Sharma was the Player of the Match in the last Test that he played for India and took 9 wickets as he helped India clinch the series against Bangladesh. He currently has 292 Test wickets in 96 matches.
Updated 16:33 IST, January 3rd 2020