Ishant gets his rhythm back

Run-up has been an issue for the lanky pacer as he has been trying to come to terms with his ever-increasing height. “I struggled in Sri Lanka as well because I have shortened my run-up by two steps. It’s just two steps,but I am taking time to find rhythm. I’m missing my steps a little bit. I spoke to Zak (Zaheer Khan) about it and a few other seniors in my team. The good thing is that I’m still bowling at the same pace that I was getting with my previous run-up,” he explains.

Long time coach Shravan Kumar,meanwhile,insists that run-up has been Ishant’s old problem.

“He used to struggle with his run-up and bowl a lot of no-balls and as a result his overs just wouldn’t end. But once he settled into a rhythm,he could run through any side,” he says.

Ironing out flaws

Not surprisingly then,while Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid settled into their partnership in the middle on Sunday,Ishant was busy trying to sort out his no-ball issue with bowling coach Eric Simons in the nets outside the stadium. That is in fact the routine he has followed during the last five days here as well as at the NCA before the series.

And what was crucially apparent during his spell,where he got rid off the settled Shane Watson,Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke,was that he seemed to have regained his bowling action of old. But the youngster had returned to his original action prior to the tour to Sri Lanka,where he had produced a number of sharp spells.

“In the second spell,I was just trying to bowl line and length and also to the field that had been set,instead of trying to do something on my own,” he adds.

Another facet of his bowling that Ishant had been working on leading up to the first Test was getting back his stock delivery,the one that pitches on a good length and darts into the right-hander. And he was seen enquiring repeatedly whether he had got it back,while bowling to the likes of Tendulkar and Dravid in the nets.

In a couple of spells either side of the lunch-break on Monday,Ishant not only seemed to have regained his natural delivery,he also posed serious threats to the Australian batsmen with it. And along the way,the prodigal pacer also reignited hopes that he still had the potential to live up to the promise that he had displayed as a teenager.