Ishant Sharma made a stellar comeback in to the Indian side by winning the Man-of-the-Series award during the recently concluded series against the West Indies. But the real challenge lies ahead in the form of the series against England.
India’s bowling coach Eric Simmons is confident that Ishant can also turn on the magic in England if he bowls with control like he did in the Caribbean.
"If he bowls with the control he has got now, Ishant can be a real handful in England. He has obviously got the height. His ability to get bounce out of a wicket from a fuller length is crucial. He is getting more confident now that his control is back. The no-balls are disappearing. He's going to start finding the pace that he has. To try and bowl quicker when you haven't got confidence is not going to work," Simmons was quoted as saying by a website.
"I think now he'll start bowling consistently at 140kmph, 141, 142, and that's just going to add to his strength. The only thing is he can drift down leg now and then but it is a minor issue," he added.
Simmons also revealed that according to him India’s returning pace spearhead Zaheer Khan will trouble the likes of England skipper Andrew Strauss.
"He has the ability to knock over Andrew Strauss during a crucial moment in the game against England at the World Cup, and to take crucial wickets in a Test when the ball starts reversing and the match is going nowhere," he said.
Simmons went on to add that Zaheer had taken the right step by opting out of the Test series in the West Indies for rest.
"He also understands his body really well. He picks up niggles very early. At times, something could have grown more serious but he picked it up early and pulled himself off. He has the ability to fix things. Now even Ishant has started to do that. Simmons concluded.
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