Ishant plays to his strengths
India seamer, Ishant Sharma, is well aware that his performances in the shorter forms of the game have left a lot to be desired recently, but he is looking to continue to perform well in Test cricket.
Ishant is part of the India squad currently in the Caribbean to contest a four-Test series against the West Indies, and the bowler is keen to perform well.
Speaking after the two-day warm-up match against the WICB President's XI, Ishant told BCCI.tv: "You have to be honest with yourself, that's the most important thing. If you are being honest with yourself it's easy to accept things.
"I know that I didn't do well in the shorter formats of the game, so I accepted it. But I am doing well in Test cricket so I know what my strength is,
"If you are playing all formats of the game, it's very difficult to think what's going wrong for you and what's going right for you,
"It's very difficult as you have [a] very short time to understand all these things. I know I didn't do well in T20s. I think everybody has their strengths. I always believe in that, and there is no harm to accept that thing."
The tall fast bowler also spoke about the need to share information, and experiences, saying: "I am sharing my experiences and hoping that what worked for me also works for them,
"But then they have to also identify their areas of strength because everybody has their own strengths. Bhuvi's [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] strength is swing but he can't extract the bounce like I can do. Similarly, I can't get the ball to swing like him."
Conditions in the West Indies are likely to be slower and challenging for seamers, but Ishant stressed the need to work hard: "You have to work hard enough even if conditions are not favourable,
"It is easy to give up and say there's nothing in the wicket so spinners will do the job and we [fast bowlers] will only try to hit the areas. But you should back yourself and go flat out.
"I like to go flat out whether it is my second or third spell. If I am playing I give my 100%. That makes me a different bowler.
"The conditions are very challenging. It's pretty hot out there, so you need to look after yourself properly. And obviously the time difference, it's totally a different time zone and you need to be mindful of that as well, especially when you are playing four Test matches."
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