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"We have a pretty good chance to win a (Test) series in England and Australia" : Ishant Sharma

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"We have a pretty good chance to win a (Test) series in England and Australia" : Ishant Sharma

The Indian team is facing injury woes in their fast bowling department ahead of the 5-match Test series against England starting from August 1. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar suffering an aggravated lower back condition and Jasprit Bumrah nursing an injured left-thumb, both the front line seamers are most likely to sit out of the first Test. But ahead of the five-match Test rubber, fast bowler Ishant Sharma believes the current Indian pace attack has the ability to lead the visitors to a series win against the Joe Root's England. The 29-year-old seamer feels that India currently have a pool of eight to nine fast bowlers, which makes them a complete Test team.

"Everybody used to say that India can't produce fast bowlers. Now we have probably eight to nine good fast bowlers, anytime who can play Test cricket for India," Ishant said in an interview to the Daily Telegraph.

Apart from Ishant, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur feature in India's Test squad pace attack for the five-match series, starting August 1 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. India have not won a Test series since 2007 when the Rahul Dravid-led side triumphed 1-0 a three-match series.

"We have a pretty good chance to win a series in England and Australia, because of the kind of attack we have," he asserted.

Ishant also said that unlike the subcontinent, the English conditions are very much favourable for pace bowling as the bowlers can bowl longer spells.

"The weather is so nice (in England), you can bowl long spells, the conditions are helpful. The ball is nice, the wicket is favourable. There's a lot of difference between bowling in England and India," Ishant observed.

Talking about fitness, Ishant admitted he didn't focus much on it during the initial part of his career. However, later he realised the importance of training.

"I was not the one who really believed in training. I didn't have too much knowledge about training. So I wasn't training that much. When I went home, I was not doing anything. Just relaxing. I think that's the point, I changed my life and improved my cricket skill level," he said.

"We have become so much fitter because there is so much knowledge, and there is so much contribution from everyone. If you want to play a good amount of cricket for the country, you need to work hard. You can't just bowl or just bat," Ishant said.

"You need to go into the gym, go running, look after your recovery system, your diet and everything," the speedster added.

Ishant, who is now a month short of 30, felt that he has matured a lot as a fast bowler in the 11 years of his Test career.

"Earlier I was really raw. I didn't know much about bowling -- I would just bowl fast. Now I know like, what the batsman is doing, how is the weather, how the wicket is going to behave, then after how many overs what you need to do and everything," the pacer, who has scalped 238 wickets from 82 Test matches, said.

"You need to adapt, and bowl according to the situation," Ishant added.

https://sports.ndtv.com/england-vs-...feels-pacers-can-win-series-for-india-1887714
 
I don't think even with this poor aus side we can win series in aus. In england it's possible though.
 
I can see them winning both series. But it will highly placed on Kohli, Rahane and potentially Pujara. Also the bowlers have to do there part, such as Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvi and Bumrah.
 
A lot will depend on the opposition, if they can handle the Indian spinners then I don't see India winning the series.
 
I can see them winning both series. But it will highly placed on Kohli, Rahane and potentially Pujara. Also the bowlers have to do there part, such as Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvi and Bumrah.

If we play bhuvi on aus tour then i am expecting 4-0 loss easily. Please Can't we get rid of this trundler?
 
Their best bowler in English conditions is injured, and so is their second best bowler.
 
Really? He will be back to his 120ks in aus this time as well. Might reach 132 - 133 at max.

It isn't just pace with Bhuvi, he's a good swing bowler and in the summer in Australia, he could cause a lot of damage to the opposition.
 
Asian teams lack bowling units who can bowl well in Aus. This Indian team is no exception. Many Asian teams have won in Eng, but not in Aus. There is reason for that.
 
LOL!he is talking like he is some great bowler.check your stats first.one of the worst bowler to play cricket.You don't have bowlers to win anything and won't win anything.Trundlers
 
It isn't just pace with Bhuvi, he's a good swing bowler and in the summer in Australia, he could cause a lot of damage to the opposition.

IMO swing bowler. he won't even swing an inch in aus. Sadly smith and warner are banned else he would have gotten smashed all around the park.
 
IMO swing bowler. he won't even swing an inch in aus. Sadly smith and warner are banned else he would have gotten smashed all around the park.
They would play him only on pitches where there would be something for fastbowlers.Look at he bowled in Dharmasala Test.
 
Don’t see them winning in England. Bhuvi is injured. Pujara has shown every sign of failing like Kohli did in 2014, with his recent form with Yorkshire and general record overseas. And a pace-bowling attack of Ishant, Shami, Pandya and Yadav? is just not good enough to win in England. Too much will depend on Kohli, Rahane

They have their best chance to win in Australia. But even without Warner and Smith Australians are super-competetive at home. So it still won’t be easy to win there.
 
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LOL!he is talking like he is some great bowler.check your stats first.one of the worst bowler to play cricket.You don't have bowlers to win anything and won't win anything.Trundlers

A) Ishant's avg speed is 135+, so he is not a trundler. He is old workhorse, so far from being worse.
B) Unlike Aust/SA, you dont need an express bowler to be successful in Eng. All you need is someone who can seam the bowl from good length. Example, Bhuvi in 2014 and recently Abbas at Lords.

However, I don't think India will win this series. England is a quality test team and with our key bowlers out, it would be very tough to beat them. You cant expect to win a test series in England with spinners. And when the series consists of 5 matches, its virtually impossible.
 
They will get slapped everywhere.

The degree to which this Indian team is overrated is ridiculous.
 
Neither england not Australia..we LL win 1 test in the end and Ravi Shastri will come out saying how this young side has got a lot of experience and gave the opposition a run for their money
 
They will get slapped everywhere.

The degree to which this Indian team is overrated is ridiculous.

Overrated why? India in last 5 years has much better W/L ratio than any team in test cricket. In ODIs they are always consistent and so in T20s.
 
Against England I can see them winning at least one test, but not the series. Against Australia I feel they have a better chance.
 
With Ishant in the side, Indian team surely would be supremely confident to win the upcoming matches. :batman:
 
Had the series been three test series, i would have given India a chance. Since both are 5 test series, I have no hopes. Winning a five test series requires a lot of Patience, endurance, tact, skill/talent and above all mental strength. I don't question the talent part, but for your best players to stay fit across 5 test matches in a cramped schedule is really hard.

Plus India's record in away series (3 + tests is not great). I remember they fluffed a great chance in 2002 to win in WI after having a 1-0 lead. They lost last 2 games and lost the 5 match series 2-1 (2 draws). The knife through the heart for an Indian fan was that all India had to do was hold for half an hour on day 4 in Jamaica, coz after that it rained for 5 continuous days.
 
Australia's reserve batsmen can also bat very well in Australia. They may not be as destructive but getting them out will be difficult and as mentioned by Buffet - the Indian bowling attacks are not gonna cause many issues for their batsmen.
 
Losing bhuvi is a body blow. He was the perfect bowler for English conditions. Big swing, amazing stamina and precious lower order runs
 
I can see them winning both series. But it will highly placed on Kohli, Rahane and potentially Pujara. Also the bowlers have to do there part, such as Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvi and Bumrah.

Both Bumrah and Bhuvi are out with injury. This infact is the weakest pace attack for India in years because of that, expect 600+ scores every inning
 
Both Bumrah and Bhuvi are out with injury. This infact is the weakest pace attack for India in years because of that, expect 600+ scores every inning

I'm sure they won't be as bad as you say. Even if Bumrah and Bhuvi are injured, India can still have a chance with Kuldeep and lets not forget Kohli, Rahane and Pujara are capable batsman that cause damage to England.
 
I can see this thread breaking records for most posts
No chance for india
 
So, what do people expect Ishant to say?

"No way we are winning in England" or "Our bowlers won't be able to get 20 wickets"

?

:facepalm:
 
So, what do people expect Ishant to say?

"No way we are winning in England" or "Our bowlers won't be able to get 20 wickets"

?

:facepalm:

Obviously he should say "our top three if they fail,pandya is not good as faheem and our bowling is trundling so obviously we wont take wkts and we are treating it just as vacation"
 
Yes BK and Bumrah are injured and that wekaens bowling and India may suffer.
However it can happen to other side.
England's veteran seamers have had their injury scares of late. Anderson has been nursing a wear and tear injury on his shoulder while Broad's ankle has been causing him some grief. Both are playing in the current round of Championship matches for their counties and provided they get through these matches unscathed, they will quite obviously be selected. However, with five Tests crammed into six weeks, England may be keeping their fingers crossed that their two best quick men stay fit for the entire series. Woakes is back fit after a thigh injury ruled him out of the entire limited overs portion.
Stokes will, however, miss the second Test at Lord's to attend a court case in relation to an alleged incident with two men outside a Bristol nightclub last September. With a court case looming, is Ben Stokes up for selection? Even if he is, will the case play on his mind and affect his performance.

Sam Curran ,Mark Wood ,Jake Ball will be in contention in case veterans break down.
 
Well yeah, If you play each other for eight to ten tests in two cycles, you have few excuses for not eventually winning a series or two
 
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