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Is Ishant Sharma the most improved fast bowler ever?

Ab Fan

Ab Fan

Senior Test Player
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Definitely a contender.

If anyone told me back in 2014 that Ishant would be leading India's new ball attack in 2020, I'd have laughed at them.
 
Hard to argue with the stats. At the same time however, most bowlers with his record don't get the same opportunity to improve as they're dropped and permanently replaced with better bowlers. Ishant was lucky to be playing for India, who up until recently had non-existent fast bowling stocks.
 
Ishant out of nowhere became a quality test bowler 2 years ago. he is one the top 5 test bowlers and as good as hazlewood.
 
angrypathan said:
Hard to argue with the stats. At the same time however, most bowlers with his record don't get the same opportunity to improve as they're dropped and permanently replaced with better bowlers. Ishant was lucky to be playing for India, who up until recently had non-existent fast bowling stocks.
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There was a time when people used to say that Ishant is one of the unluckiest bowler as he bowls well(again as per Indian standards) but doesn't gets wickets. But he has changed that perception and has been India's most effective pacer overseas in last 3-4 years.
 
An average of 22.9 for the last 5 years is amazing record - especially for Indian fast bowlers who has to bowl in India on show spin friendly pitches tailor-made for Ashwin & Jadeja . Everyone talks of Rohit Sharma's turnaround since 2013, but Ishant's turnaround is no less noteworthy

Full credit to Virat Kohli for backing the fast bowlers. Not just Ishant , but Shami & Umesh also became much better bowlers since 2015
 
NishanKonar said:
An average of 22.9 for the last 5 years is amazing record - especially for Indian fast bowlers who has to bowl in India on show spin friendly pitches tailor-made for Ashwin & Jadeja . Everyone talks of Rohit Sharma's turnaround since 2013, but Ishant's turnaround is no less noteworthy

Full credit to Virat Kohli for backing the fast bowlers. Not just Ishant , but Shami & Umesh also became much better bowlers since 2015
Click to expand...

Will be interesting to note the averages of our four fast bowlers alongwith total wickets since 2015.
 
Ab Fan said:
Will be interesting to note the averages of our four fast bowlers alongwith total wickets since 2015.
Click to expand...

Shami - 133 wickets at 24.25
Umesh - 101 wickets at 27.7
Bumrah - 68 wickets at 20.3
Ishant - 110 wickets at 24

Before 2015 we never had a fast bowler with average of less than 28 and now all 4 have averaged below that mark in last 5 years ( 3 below 25 )

I hope next generation ( Ishan Porel, Shivam Mavi, Kartik Tyagi, Sushant Mishra, Prasid Krishna ) learns from these guys. We will finally get a few bowlers with career average of 25 or below
 
NishanKonar said:
Shami - 133 wickets at 24.25
Umesh - 101 wickets at 27.7
Bumrah - 68 wickets at 20.3
Ishant - 110 wickets at 24

Before 2015 we never had a fast bowler with average of less than 28 and now all 4 have averaged below that mark in last 5 years ( 3 below 25 )

I hope next generation ( Ishan Porel, Shivam Mavi, Kartik Tyagi, Sushant Mishra, Prasid Krishna ) learns from these guys. We will finally get a few bowlers with career average of 25 or below
Click to expand...

If you take last three years,

Ishant Sharma 79 wickets @19.8
Jasprit Bumrah 68 wickets @20.3
Umesh Yadav 56 wickets @21.8
Mohammad Shami 104 wickets@23.5

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...7;spanval2=span;template=results;type=bowling
 
Ab Fan said:
If you take last three years,

Ishant Sharma 79 wickets @19.8
Jasprit Bumrah 68 wickets @20.3
Umesh Yadav 56 wickets @21.8
Mohammad Shami 104 wickets@23.5

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...7;spanval2=span;template=results;type=bowling
Click to expand...

Imagine these guys bowling in early 80s - on under prepared pitches & against batsmen with not helmet or chest gaurd. Wud have been seen in same league as Malcolm, Holding & Roberts

6 batsmen used substitute after concussion since it was allowed last Aug - 4 against Indian bowlers that too on slow Indian pitches . Just wonder how scary these guys wud have been in the past in West Indies or Australia
 
Respect to Ishant for working hard.

From teenage sensation to utter crap to a very reliable and mature pacer. Quite a roller coaster ride it has been for him.

He's 6'4"' something so keeping that body in prime condition is also a challenge always . He's very focussed . I always respect honest triers and he is one. Even if he fails I respect him for trying.
 
He has definitely improved a lot in tests but to be honest even in his struggling days he used to bowl some good spells in tests here and there though was lacking consistency. Now obviously he is much more consistent with experience and knowing his overall game better.

However more issue was with his limited overs skills and his ability to read the game and execute which I think is still there without much change which is one of the reasons he isnt much part of LOI plans of India.
 
I think coaches are often overlooked as they work in the background.

Bharat Arun had a huge role in Ishant's revival as we can easily see from the stats below. Arun was appointed in the mid of 2017 (In July) and look at the stats of Ishant in 2018 and onward:

2020-07-06_8-50-07.jpg
 
first of all he is not a "fast bowler" he is just 130kph trundler. yeah he might have been improved but how many series in SENA countries he has won for his team.
 
Titan24 said:
I think coaches are often overlooked as they work in the background.

Bharat Arun had a huge role in Ishant's revival as we can easily see from the stats below. Arun was appointed in the mid of 2017 (In July) and look at the stats of Ishant in 2018 and onward:

View attachment 101990
Click to expand...

ishant sharma's improvement came about in 2015 or so when he started bowling a lesser percentage of short pitched deliveries and more full and good length. I think B Arun and co. may have helped him improve his conditioning and keep him fit though.
 
NishanKonar said:
Shami - 133 wickets at 24.25
Umesh - 101 wickets at 27.7
Bumrah - 68 wickets at 20.3
Ishant - 110 wickets at 24

Before 2015 we never had a fast bowler with average of less than 28 and now all 4 have averaged below that mark in last 5 years ( 3 below 25 )

I hope next generation ( Ishan Porel, Shivam Mavi, Kartik Tyagi, Sushant Mishra, Prasid Krishna ) learns from these guys. We will finally get a few bowlers with career average of 25 or below
Click to expand...

You can add bhuvi also who averages 26 overall and around 21 in last 3 years
 
He has learned to keep bowling in certain channel.
 
Agree that he has improved his bowling but don't forget he only plays in overseas tours and these days most teams provide bowler friendly pitches to india. He won't play much in subcontinent condition where umesh is preferred choice or india mostly goes with just 2 pacers.
 
Ishant has developed into a top class bowler. He use to be a joke amongst Pakistan fans. But now he is a better test match bowler than all of our bowlers. Yes Shaheen has potential to be better but he hasn't played enough tests to be classed as better.
 
Thanks [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION] for the editing. Liked it . Pictorial representation is always easier and better for understanding than textual description.
 
Indiafan said:
You can add bhuvi also who averages 26 overall and around 21 in last 3 years
Click to expand...

Bhuvi has good figures but I do feel his bowling is not so great for tests. Lost his prodigious swing and become very gun barrel straight after he increased his pace to 140 kph

He really needs to re-discover his swing & if he can do so - he will become very handy in test matches
 
Indiafan said:
You can add bhuvi also who averages 26 overall and around 21 in last 3 years
Click to expand...

Bhuvi is a ordinary bowler when the conditions are not conducive for swing. He wont get a place in test side ahead of Shami Bumrah and Ishant.

Hopefully with Saini coming in this guy with an avg of 35 in ODIs is banished from LOIs.

what a travesty that Bhuvi played in the WC ahead of Shami.
 
Kohli's captaincy has been the difference. He uses him to take wickets, gives him attacking fields and permission to be in the batsman's face
 
Savak said:
Kohli's captaincy has been the difference. He uses him to take wickets, gives him attacking fields and permission to be in the batsman's face
Click to expand...

Most importantly, he's let Ishant play.

Kohli has backed bowlers with potential to be one of the best rather than Dhoni's short term plans with Kumar army of trundlers.

Kohli genuinely tried to back Varun Aaron and Yadav as well. Yadav is still in the mix although Varun couldn't come good. That's how it is. Some plans work some don't but at least Kohli's priority is right. He's investing on genuine talent.
 
Credikt where its due, he has improved a lot!

Although, when you have the worst bowling average by some distance in all those lists posted above, he will come looking like a million bucks irrespective!
 
299 test wickets, only 1 to go to get to 300 wickets.

His last 150 test wickets have come at average of around 25-26.

2007-13:- 149 test wickets, Avg 38.81
2014-21:- 150 test wickets, Avg 25.92

The county stint with Sussex has been a major reason for this turnaround according to Ishant.
 
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Depends.

A lot of people may forget that he played a good part of his early/mid career due to being persisted with and a possible lack of options.

Used to have a bit of reputation for being a guy who would relieve the pressure when he came on to bowl.

Having said that, Rohit Sharma (or N0hit Sharma as per the hashtags and threads up to 14/15) or ‘Sir’ Ravindra Jadeja too should get a mention overall. Not talking purely about Test Cricket here - more about the concept.

In frankness, a lot of teams would have not had the patience to keep any of these 3 in the side for this long or extend a long rope.

A partially comparable and somewhat bittersweet example is that of Hafeez from PAK. He more or less learnt his game after having been associated with PAK for a long while.
 
King_Kohli said:
He is in good rhythm, bowling very well and getting reverse swing.
Click to expand...

I did not watch the game and relied on some Cricinfo commentary.

It seemed like the ball was reversing reasonably and he was getting good shape.

Did he prise a few wickets in a strong spell? On this side, PAK/SAF both failed to utilise the old ball which was swinging quite a bit during the 1st Test. PAK/SAF bowlers lacked pace and/or control over the healthy shape that was on offer.

Nothing worse than wasting the old ball when it is really swinging.
 
Yk313 said:
I did not watch the game and relied on some Cricinfo commentary.

It seemed like the ball was reversing reasonably and he was getting good shape.

Did he prise a few wickets in a strong spell? On this side, PAK/SAF both failed to utilise the old ball which was swinging quite a bit during the 1st Test. PAK/SAF bowlers lacked pace and/or control over the healthy shape that was on offer.

Nothing worse than wasting the old ball when it is really swinging.
Click to expand...

He was outstanding and great control. Dismissed Buttler early.
 
He takes middle to lower batsman wickets. Couldn't take tailender wickets today for his 300th wicket. Fluked it with Archer wicket, failed with Bess and a no ball.

Top order stats please. Or move on.
 
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Imran Khan averages 25 in first half, 20 in second half. Sounds a little fishy given that he didn't bowled much in his final 15 tests.
 
Credit goes to his county stint in England. If Indian bowlers want to improve they should spend a season or two in county cricket. Zak also improved after that. But yeah if they want to have some cheap cash or get injured and want to be forgotten as just another average bowler they should play in IPL. :inti
 
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Bhaag Viru Bhaag said:
Credit goes to his county stint in England. If Indian bowlers want to improve they should spend a season or two in county cricket. Zak also improved after that. But yeah if they want to have some cheap cash or get injured and want to be forgotten as just another average bowler they should play in IPL. :inti
Click to expand...

Like Bumrah?
 
Ishant averages over 32, he has played nearly 100 tests and not even taken 300 wickets. This is the definition of mediocre. To continually pick someone who is clearly mediocre to enable him to play these many matches means the cupboard must be very bare.

And then people tell me india have the best strength in depth in bowling?
 
Ishant Sharma’s bowling stats:

Before he was dismissed by Alastair Cook: 56 matches, 167 wickets @ 37.79
After he was dismissed by Alastair Cook: 42 matches, 130 wickets @ 25.61

Alastair Cook: "Remember my fantastic one dismissal in Test cricket when I nicked him off down the leg side. He then spent the rest of his career taking his revenge on me." :misbah

 
Bhaag Viru Bhaag said:
Credit goes to his county stint in England. If Indian bowlers want to improve they should spend a season or two in county cricket. Zak also improved after that. But yeah if they want to have some cheap cash or get injured and want to be forgotten as just another average bowler they should play in IPL. :inti
Click to expand...


I can remember Bob Willis or Ian Botham saying in their day, they would play a test then a couple of days later play a county match. Obviously this doesn’t happen now days. To me that seems like a big workload. What are your thoughts on that? Would you have had an issue with that if an Indian bowler had to that now or back in the day?
 
Ishant completes 300 test wickets!

Great achievement! Never thought I'll see him into this club. But here he is!

Easily most improved Indian cricketer in last 3-4 years. Was a big loss for us during Australia tour.
 
So who is better, Ishant or Zaheer?

Ishant averages in low 32s and Zaheer almost 33!
 
Ishant Sharma picks up 300 Test wickets

Pacer Ishant Sharma, on Monday, became only the sixth Indian bowler to pick up 300 wickets in Test cricket.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan are the other bowlers from the country who have reached the landmark.

Sharma, however, is the slowest Indian bowler to make the mark in 98 matches, with Ashwin being the fastest to the spot in 54 matches, followed by Kumble (66), Harbhajan (72), Kapil (83) and Zaheer (89). Ashwin, in fact, is the fastest international bowler to have crossed the milestone.

The 32-year-old has now also picked up 100 Test wickets in India. He is only the fourth Indian pacer to do so after Kapil (219), Javagal Srinath (108) and Zaheer (104).

d98d9d77-7f65-4d72-8dd3-36921da12288.jpg
 
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MP2011 said:
So who is better, Ishant or Zaheer?

Ishant averages in low 32s and Zaheer almost 33!
Click to expand...

Zaheer because he leaded the pace attack from 2007-2011 unlike Ishant who got better when Shami and Bumrah are there.
 
Problem for Ishant is that he was absolutely dire under Dhoni, some tests like Lords notwithstanding.

Also, he has taken very few (11) 5-fors in 98 tests he has played till now. This is very low number for a fast bowler.
 
Ishant Sharma in Tests:

First 49 matches:
Wickets - 138.
Average - 38.53.
Strike Rate - 68.98.

Next 49 matches:
Wickets - 162.
Average - 26.98.
Strike Rate - 54.4.

-A complete different and probably India's best Test bowler since 2013.
 
Ishant Sharma joined India's 300 club.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ishant Sharma joined India's 300 club 🙌 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvENG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvENG</a></p>— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNcricinfo/status/1358770055933173761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

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The career turnaround from Ishant has been nothing short of incredible. Till 2016 he was a laughing stock. A joke. Another Indian pacer who burst onto the scene with alot of promise, but was destined to fade away into mediocrity like so many others. But Ishant much to his credit improved remarkably. I can't think of any bowler who went from being such a mediocre bowler with an average bordering on 40 to an absolute gun bowler who has found success in all conditions.

Anderson wasnot particularly good in the first half of his career but he wasn't nearly as bad as Ishant pre-2017.
 
It has to be Hasan Ali after today's performance particularly after the lows since 2018.
 
King_Kohli said:
Ishant Sharma in Tests:

First 49 matches:
Wickets - 138.
Average - 38.53.
Strike Rate - 68.98.

Next 49 matches:
Wickets - 162.
Average - 26.98.
Strike Rate - 54.4.

-A complete different and probably India's best Test bowler since 2013.
Click to expand...

Pre-county cricket stint:
Wickets - 234.
Average - 35.94.
Strike Rate - 66.6.

Post-county cricket stint:
Wickets - 66.
Average - 19.46.
Strike Rate - 41.7.
 
stevewittry said:
It has to be Hasan Ali after today's performance particularly after the lows since 2018.
Click to expand...

One freakish performance post comeback is not enough to call someone most improved. I am not saying he has to replicate the same performance in consecutive test matches but one has to sustain a certain standard of performance over a period of time to be considered most improved. Ishant did that, he has been averaging sub 25 for years now.
 
He owes his transformation to Kohli. One of the many reasons why is the greatest Asian Test captain of all time.
 
He reinvented himself as a bowler.

Earlier in his career he wanted to blast out batsmen and that rarely worked.

More recently he has learnt a few more tricks and worked on his skills even though he has lost a yard of pace.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
The career turnaround from Ishant has been nothing short of incredible. Till 2016 he was a laughing stock. A joke. Another Indian pacer who burst onto the scene with alot of promise, but was destined to fade away into mediocrity like so many others. But Ishant much to his credit improved remarkably. I can't think of any bowler who went from being such a mediocre bowler with an average bordering on 40 to an absolute gun bowler who has found success in all conditions.

Anderson wasnot particularly good in the first half of his career but he wasn't nearly as bad as Ishant pre-2017.
Click to expand...

Ishant's improvement started from 2014

From 2018, he has been extraordinary
 
I guess he worked on his wrist position, he also began pitching it up and moving it away. Kudos to the indian pace management and the coach. He also did work on his general fitness and game awareness. A spell of county cricket helped. Lastly, it was his intense desire and hunger to excel.
 
RyanRyan10 said:
Ishant's improvement started from 2014

From 2018, he has been extraordinary
Click to expand...

IIRC Ishant was averaging 36 in 2016. That's fairly mediocre for a fast-bowler with 50+ test matches. But since then he has been nothing short of extraordinary.
 
I'll never forget Ishants first tour of Australia. He bowled fantastically- not sure if his figures showed the rewards for it, but everyone in Australia sat up & noticed India had a young, tall fast bowler who was hitting 150k+ on that tour.

He bowled a spell to Ponting and absolutely roughed him up. Gave him a solid working over and tormented him for half an hour or so. Then got the wicket.

He lost his way for a while but I liked him ever since that tour, so glad he is doing his talent justice. Cricket is better with fast bowlers.
 
Whenever he will hang up his boots, he will have reasons to do it with a big smile and great deal of pride, for whatever he has achieved is because of sheer hard work, focus and perseverance. And his record has already started showing that he has achieved much more in terms of victories and dressing room respect than many established fast bowlers, past and present.
 
Ishant has been brilliant since 2018. Very underrated and similar to hazlewood nowadays.

But the most improved fast bowler of all time without any doubt is anderson. 148 wickets in his first 44 tests, avg 35.
463 wickets in his next 116 tests avg of 23.8
 
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Great turnaround by Ishant

He was a running joke in Indian cricket , there were tons of memes especially during IPL. But last post 2017 - he has been a terrific bowler in test cricket

Another good example wud be Zaheer Khan. Was bang average till 2006 , then played county cricket & became lethal strike bowler in test matches & bete noir of left handed batsmen like Graeme Smith, Sangakkara & Strauss. Unfortunately never got much support form others - hence his overall figures did not imporve - unlike Ishant who has Bumrah & Shami for company
 
50 Test wickets for Ishant Sharma in England - first India bowler to reach the milestone
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Deception at its best! &#55357;&#56394;&#55356;&#57339; <br><br>What a ball that from <a href="https://twitter.com/ImIshant?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ImIshant</a> &#55357;&#56613;&#55357;&#56613;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GT</a> have lost four wickets now and this is turning out to be a tricky chase! <br><br>Follow the match ▶️ <a href="https://t.co/VQGP7wSZAj">https://t.co/VQGP7wSZAj</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TATAIPL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TATAIPL</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GTvDC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GTvDC</a> <a href="https://t.co/j7IlC7vf0X">pic.twitter.com/j7IlC7vf0X</a></p>— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) <a href="https://twitter.com/IPL/status/1653437247025463296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Ishant was discarded like a pack of cigarettes even though he was bowling brilliantly in Tests. Very rough treatment from BCCI.

But then again he was competing with Bumrah, Shami and Siraj for a spot in the team. So understandable. He seems to be very nice and has no ill will or moaning on social media about his exclusion.
 
He has one of the most natural and injury free bowling action. That is why he was able to play that long. He started losing his pace towards the end of his career in Tests. Two average series he was dropped. Then the started putting on weight. Guys like him with that action can still bowl some peaches in between. For 4 over cricket he is alright.
 
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