Australia series helped me get back my rhythm: Ishant

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India pacer Ishant Sharma feels that he has got his “rhythm back” in the recently-concluded home Test series against Australia after spending the better part of last year on the sidelines due to ankle surgery.

“I think I am slowly getting back into my rhythm. I am pretty happy with my performance against Australia. Although, I couldn’t do much in the first couple of Tests, I did well in the last two matches. Overall, I am satisfied with my performance,” said the lanky fast bowler, who finished with only seven wickets from the four-Test series.

He has received a lot of flak having got only 144 wickets from 51 Tests but the 24-year-old is reasonably happy about how his international career has panned out so far.

“I think I have done reasonably well in my career so far. I hope to continue to do well. In India, the wickets are not too conducive for pace bowling,” Ishant stated after a session with young trainees at a cricket clinic ‘You vs Ishant’ at the Vasant Kunj Sports Complex.

Ishant said he and his pace bowling partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar complemented each other in the team. “I concentrated in getting the reverse swing with the old ball (against Australia). Bhuvneshwar swings the new ball and he has done well. For me, it was more about containment with the new ball and wait for old ball,” he said.

Ishant’s tips for young fast bowling aspirants is simple: try to bowl as fast as you can at the beginning and not worry unduly about the line and length. “According to me, when you are young, you should think of raw pace only. Line and length can be learnt later on in a match situation. If you think of bowling line and length from a young age, you won’t have pace.”