Ishant Sharma says he’d ‘go for the kill’ in what could be his last series in Australia

Admitting that this tour of Australia could be his last in his career, senior Indian pacer Ishant Sharma on Thursday, said that he would “go for the kill” during the Test series.

The fast bowler who has won the most number of Test caps (87) in the current Indian team, having toured Australia during 2007-2008, 2011-2012 and 2014-2015.

“I always go for the kill because when you play for your country, you can’t think of a second chance. I am 30 right now. I don’t know if I will be there for the next tour (of Australia in 2022-23) as I will be 34 by then. I will give my level best on this tour,” he said, as quoted by PTI.

The lanky pacer was one of best performers in England with 18 wickets in the five Tests and the 30-year-old feels that he has improved as a bowler and it is the mind space that matters.

“I am matured right now and I know my field settings and bowl according to situations. As you grow old, there is lot of wear and tear in your body. It’s all about the mental state. If you are fit and in good mind space, you can say you are bowling well,” he added.

A veteran of 87 Tests where he has taken 256 wickets, Ishant said he is ready to share with experience with the younger pool of fast bowlers.

“I share my experience, I mean whatever experience I have. I can set the field and tell them which lengths to bowl on particular tracks. Once the younger lot becomes senior, they should also then guide the juniors,” he said.

He further said that a senior member in a team should be free with the youngsters in the squad, rather than spread negative things.

“They should joke around with their juniors. I am not that kind of senior who says negative things to juniors like ‘why have you done that’ etc. I am a senior who should set different benchmark for my juniors,”he added.

Ishant, who was one of India’s heroes in their 2013 Champions Trophy in England, he admitted that it ‘hurts’ to be not playing in the ODI side anymore.

“It does rankle that I don’t play ODIs. Yes, I feel bad about it. I want to play all three formats for the country. But there are a few things which you can’t control and I don’t want to think about too many negative things,” he answered to a question.

The right-arm bowler said that an Australian side without Steve Smith and David Warner would be advantageous.

Also read: Ishant, Ashwin to undergo fitness test before West Indies Test squad selection

“You can say that (advantage India). Statistics reveal that in recent years, 60 percent of their runs have been scored by Smith and Warner,” said the veteran.

But at the same time he was aware to not disrespect the hosts in their own.

“But whoever plays for Australia must have some quality and have been a performer at their first-class level. So you can’t take them lightly. Australia in general is a tough side, the crowd can make it even tougher. But it can also make you a tough player and I never had any issues with that,” he said.

He also said that his team aren’t concerned about being called “poor travellers”.
The Virat Kohli-led side lost the Test series 1-4 against in England against the hosts, earlier this year.
We are not concerned about tags because as a team we know we gave our 100 percent. We shouldn’t really care what others are talking about. Because in the field, we are the ones who are going through hard times. You only have support of whole bunch of players. So we don’t really care what people talk about us.

“No one is hurt more than us when we don’t win matches because we are the ones playing on the field,”he said.