Senior Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been in fine form in Test cricket over the past couple of years. After starting his career with a bang before going through a phase of struggle, the right-arm pacer has developed into a strong asset with the new ball.
One man who has seen Sharma’s transformation from close quarters is former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie, who was Sharma’s coach at Sussex when the Indian pacer played for the English County side in 2018.
“We spoke about a number of things regarding bowling in general when he was at Sussex,” said Gillespie, who took 259 wickets from 71 Tests, in an interview with The Times of India.
Last week, Sharma had spoken about how Gillespie helped him make his fuller deliveries more potent. The Australian elaborated on the same: “If you look at how Ishant is taking his wickets, he is bowling a fuller length on average. Rather than bowling back of a length, he is bowling about knee roll/top of pad length.
“Often, when bowlers practice bowling fuller, they can look to put the ball there rather than hit the pitch hard like bowlers do when they bowl back of a length. As a coach sometimes, it is the language you use with players that can help. We spoke about “looking to put a dent in the pitch on that fuller length” as opposed to saying “hit the pitch hard.”
Gillespie said that Sharma, who has taken 292 wickets in 96 Test matches, was eager to learn more about creating wicket-taking opportunities during his time at Sussex two years ago.
“Things we spoke about included wrist position for swinging and seaming the ball and the best lengths to bowl. We also spoke about bowling over and around the wicket to the left-handers depending on how much the ball is swinging,” said Gillespie.