Bowling as a unit has been key to India's success in the ongoing Test match against South Africa, feels team's most successful pacer Ishant Sharma.
Ishant's whose double strike in the final session of the second day turned the match as he ended with figures of four for 79 in the South African first innings that ended on 244.
Ishant Sharma. Pic/AFP
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"We bowled well in the first innings," said Ishant adding,"In India, only two fast bowlers operate and there aren't too many overs to bowl because the wickets back home help spinners more."
The lanky pacer said that the pace unit didn't bowl badly in England or Australia either but there wasn't enough runs on the board. "If you look at the way we bowled in England or Australia previously, we didn't bowl badly.
There weren't enough runs on the board." Hunting in pack always helps and that's exactly what hs happened over here. "Now we are bowling in partnerships and bowling aggressively.
We bowled as a unit and it is because we are all of the same age (save Zaheer) and there is a nice bonding among us. All three of us pacers bowled well. As fast bowlers, we backed each other," Ishant explained.
As a bowler there will be days when things won't go one's way and one needs to be ready to accept that. "But some days will be good for someone and bad for someone else.
We will try to hunt as a pack in the second innings and that's more important than trying to bowl individually," he added.
Ishant admitted that the pitch had a lot of assistance for the seamers. "There was enough assistance in the wicket for our bowling. The South African bowlers bowled outside the off-stump.
We bowled into the stumps, because we thought there could be more purchase from the wicket. So we believed in ourselves and stuck to the plan.
We bowled into the right areas, and bowled patiently," the Delhi speedster added. Obviously the influence of Zaheer, on his comeback, is noticeable and Ishant also agreed. "It is nice to see him back in the side.
The amount of confidence he gives you while you are bowling, telling you where you lack. It's important for fast bowlers to know these things. "Shami and I are still young and we can't rectify all the mistakes while we are bowling.
So his (Zaheer) presence helps us, because he is someone who tells you that if you do this then you are going to get more from this kind of track," said Ishant.
At close of play, India had taken a 320-run lead in the Test with eight wickets still remaining. With two days to go, it can be assumed that there should be a result in this game, weather allowing.
"I think declaring the innings is the call of coach and captain. It's more about time now than runs," Ishant signed off.u00a0
Did you know?
The last time India’s quicks took all 10 wickets in an innings was against South Africa too — January 2011,u00a0Cape Town u00a0
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