“It’s better that our bowlers don’t get carried away by the helpful conditions,” says the lanky pacer, Ishant Sharma. It’s going to be a litmus test of this 24-year-old, who picked up three wickets in his final warm-up game against Australia.
Meanwhile, according to the recent reports in Times of India, former Pakistan pace legend Wasim Akram, compared Ishant's career to that of Mohammed Sami. He was quoted saying, “Both had great starts, promised to take control of the new-ball attack but then fortunes nose-dived. Injuries and a general lack of self-belief scuppered their careers, but life has given Ishant many chances.”
As per the media reports, Ishant was quoted saying, "The conditions here are just right for me. For both batsmen and bowlers it's going to be a challenge. As a bowler, my job is to pitch in the right areas and make the batsmen drive as that is the only thing which can earn me a wicket."
Sharma wasn't impressive in India's first warm-up match against Sri Lanka in Birmingham on June 1. Ishant leaked 41 runs in his six overs, but he can be forgiven for the fact that the Edgbaston track was an old and slow one that favoured the batsmen. The match, which India won by five wickets, produced close to 700 runs.
The 24-year-old was quoted by DNA saying, "It's not the number of runs we fast bowlers conceded but the fact that the pacers repeatedly missed the edge of the bat are signs that the balls were being pitched in the right areas.”
Ishant picked up three wickets in two matches of his maiden Champions Trophy, in 2009, both games coming at Centurion, a pitch that usually has a lot for fast bowlers. He added, “I have a job to do but can't say that I am the boss of this pace attack. It's going to be a collective responsibility because there are others who will have to do as well. We are all of the same age and you can say I have a little more experience than a Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) and Vinay Kumar.”
"It's going to be a mental thing this time. The conditions look tempting but it will be suicidal to get carried away. If we can bowl in the right areas, the wickets will come and that's been our job at the nets,” Ishant concluded.