Adelaide: India’s pace spearhead Ishant Sharma believes that his “experience” of having bowled in Australian conditions will come in handy for the other bowlers but he doesn’t want to be looked upon as a “role model” for the likes of Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron or Mohammed Shami. Ishant has previously been a part of two Test tours in 2007-08 and then in 2011-12.
“All our bowlers are in the same age group, an average age of 26 or 27, which is very good for the Indian team,” Ishant told reporters on Saturday. “As such, I don’t see myself as a role model for anyone. What I need to do is focus on my bowling and then whatever I have learnt from my experiences in the past and tours abroad that I can share with my teammates. It is vital to learn from whatever we did right on past tours, focus on that and keep doing the same.”
Ishant had first shot to fame during the 2007-08 tour when he had consistently troubled Australian captain Ricky Ponting. On the subsequent tour in 2011-12, he didn’t do too well as India lost 0-4 in the Test series.Ishant’s own record took a battering as he now has played 7 Tests in Australia, with 11 wickets at an average of 70-plus.
“I learnt an important lesson last time. There were a lot of expectations from me and I have a lot of expectations from myself. I got recognition in Australia but couldn’t live up to it the last time. This time I know I have to control my feelings and expectations. I have to focus on doing the basics right. So I can concentrate better and improve my bowling,” he said. On Phillip Hughes, Ishant said that the incident was shocking but all have to move on.
