Ishant should have stepped into Zaheer's shoes by now: BS Sandhu

A fast bowler must have the heart of a champion a strong body to take the workload a decent action that keeps him injuryfree mental toughness to compete harder when the chips are down and most importantly enjoy bowling quickIshant Sharma bowls during Day Four of the second Test against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane on December 20 2014 PicGetty ImagesA welldirected quick delivery into the ribs of a batsman can cause more harm to the batsmans confidence than a directionless quick lifting delivery well outside the off stump or down the leg side A fast bowler can bowl his fastest ball by putting in an extra effort but if it lands in the area that most batsmen enjoy then it gets hit to the fence in quick time Great fast bowlers of the past always realised this and did not waste their effortSunny daysI was lucky to play for a few years and watch cricket in an era 1970s and 1980s when fast bowling was at its best The legendary Sunil Gavaskar said the best place to play them is from nonstrikers end This shows the kind of respect he had for the fast bowlers against whom he scored most of his runsMost of them were fast and furious bowling into the zone of discomfort They were able to land the ball where they intended to because they practiced bowling quick in the nets most of the time Thus the release point of the ball for a different line and length entered their muscle memory to recall in competition That was their key to successUmesh Yadav is an Indian fast bowler I admire a lot He has worked very hard to overcome his back injury and relishes bowling quick Umesh said during a recent function For a genuine fast bowler the margin of error is very less Its not easy for a fast bowler to bowl consistently in one area Its easier for a medium pacer to maintain line and length at 130135 kmhAt times I try different things and when that doesnt work it costs me a few runs Everyone is different I cant bowl like Mustafizur Rahman and he cant bowl like me My release point is different from that of a medium pacer If I change that I will mess up my bowling I am in this team because of my pace I have taken wickets at the international level with paceI agree with most of Umeshs views One thing needed for all bowlers to be accurate is good stability at the back foot landing and at the point of release Watch shooters or archers They are calm and absolutely stable at the point of release to hit the bulls eye But cricket is a dynamic game and any instability at the back foot landing could trigger another part of the body to move in an unintended direction thus affecting the release pointAlso keeping calm in a pressure situation backing oneself believing and having faith in ones ability is vital Then the bowlers uncluttered mind is focusing on planning and plotting the downfall of a batman rather than worrying about landing the ball in the right areas as it is referred to these daysIshant Sharma is another Indian fast bowler who on his day can bowl a matchwinning spell But despite his eightyear experience in international cricket he has yet to step into the shoes of Zaheer Khan Ishants back foot landing is unstable and being tall it magnifies this problem leading to a loss in control over line and length It also leads to ankle injuries which he has suffered throughout his careerNew boots may workThe shoes used nowadays are extremely good at absorbing ground forces when landing but I think he could try using leathersoled shoes the wider ones on which the spikes are well spread out for better stability Kapil Dev Sir Richard Hadlee Malcolm Marshall and most fast bowlers of 1980s and 1990s used leathersoled shoesThere is no harm in Ishant trying them He has claimed 187 Test wickets Thats a lot of wickets but 62 are a lot of Test matches to establish yourself as a fearsome bowler by now Modernday fast bowlers must be aware that spending time in the gym is important to strengthen their body but its equally vital to spend time bowling quick in the areas they want to bowl in during a game While purposeful practice in the nets makes the muscle memory stronger to recall at will mind you the length varies as per conditions Hence muscle memory needs to be rebuilt accordingly and that can happen only by bowling in the netsFast bowlers or for that matter all bowlers must strike a balance between fitness training and skill training Fitness training must be used to enhance the ability to perform cricketing skills A cricketer must work hard to improve his fitness which helps to translate into skill enhancement and subsequently into performance Remember performance and not fitness enters the scorebook and record books187Number of Test wickets claimed by Ishant SharmaThe author is a 1983 World Cup hero Read about how he got into the groove for the big World Cup games on wwwmiddaycom