Ishant: Dhoni pushed me to bowl short

Cricket365
July 21, 2014

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma was man of the match at Lord's for his seven wickets in the second innings, which led to a 95-run win for his side, but he credited skipper MS Dhoni for his success.

Ishant produced a fine spell of short bowling on a relatively flat deck on day five, and bounced the England middle order out, starting with Moeen Ali the ball before lunch. He said afterwards that Dhoni had insisted he keep bowling short.

Ishant said: "I think all these wickets are not for me, it is for the captain. He told me ,'you are tall enough, you have to bowl the bouncer,' that's what I did and it worked for me."

Dhoni confirmed that he'd pushed for the short balls, saying: "That last over before lunch, Ishant didn't really want to bowl short, I was like, 'you have to bowl it,' I turned the other way round.

"He got his wicket and then it gave him the confidence to keep bowling short, keep attacking the batsman. I think it was a fantastic performance."

The skipper was also pleased with the way his batsmen dealt with the first day's play, after being put in to bat on a green deck, and though they lost a flurry of wickets on day one, managed to push themselves to a vital 295.

He said: "It was a very crucial toss, I felt there was something for the fast bowlers, there was a bit of moisture in the wicket, which meant the fast bowlers could exploit that.

"I think the openers and No. 3, [the ball] was not bowled to them, but they made sure they are not playing all those deliveries, later on they pushed the England bowlers to bowl at them.

"You want the opposition to bowl more than 90 overs, because once they do that it becomes slightly difficult for them even when the tailenders come in there is more tendency of committing a mistake when you are slightly more tired.

"The batsmen are also making sure they get out to good deliveries … overall the whole batting department did really well."