'If the bowler doesn’t know what happened, how will the batsman know?' - Ishant Sharma recalls iconic Perth spell against Ricky Ponting

Veteran India pacer Ishant Sharma has opened up on his iconic spell against Australia at the WACA in Perth. Playing just his fourth Test, Ishant, aged just 19, swung the ball both ways and his probing lines and lengths left the maestro Ricky Ponting in disarray.

Ishant had Ponting caught in the slips twice cheaply in a game that India won by 72 runs and showed early signs of becoming a pacer the team could rely upon in the red-ball format. As fate would have it, Ishant went on to establish himself as one of the most prominent Test players in the country, representing the nation in over 100 matches in the longest format. As told to Jio Cinema:

Tell us about ‘that’ spell against Ricky Ponting… One of the finest spells by an Indian fast bowler. 

Why is 'that'?  

I’ll tell you why, when we had gone to Australia in 2003/04, I had seen an official statement in the newspaper wondering, ‘Why is he going? We’ll lose by 4-0 anyway, so what difference does it make?’ We would regularly lose to Australia, let alone away from home, so it was a big deal. Now tell me what was happening in that spell exactly? 

Nothing was happening, I was just bowling. In the previous innings, I had gotten Ricky Ponting and (Michael) Clarke out. Harbhajan Singh wasn’t playing that Test match, so when he took Ricky Ponting out earlier in the Test at Sydney, he celebrated by rolling on the ground. I told him that I will get him out and celebrate like that. I got him out in the first innings and thought to try a cartwheel but I’m a little tall and the ground was too low, so I let it be. I went to Bhajju paa and told him I got him out. In the second innings, Australia had to set a target and Ricky Ponting was playing with Michael Hussey. I bowled 2-3 overs overnight but was very wayward.  

Gary (Kirsten) had just come in recently to become the full-time coach. While we were going to the bus, he asked me, ‘What do you think?’ I told him, ‘I didn’t bowl well’. He asked me, ‘How come you are so blunt? How come you are so honest?’ I told him that this is the truth and he started saying, ‘Sometimes people start making excuses’, I told him that’s just how I play.

Next day the ball wasn’t doing much despite overcast conditions. End of day, I thought, ‘I don’t have a reputation to defend as much as he has. I was just enjoying myself. The most important thing is that I was enjoying my game. At the start of the next day, Anil (Kumble) bhai told me that my spell is important.

Suddenly, found rhythm, I was imitating Dale Steyn. I was swinging the ball away, I don’t know why. There’s a five-meter length and I needed to deliver it with all efforts. After that, I don’t know whether the ball was going inside or outside. From there, the ball just started swinging, even I didn’t know how. One ball I thought I’d deliver closer and it automatically started going straight. After that the ball was automatically hitting the seam after pitching. One over passed, I beat him. Second over, I beat him again. I was like, ‘Great, I am bowling well.’ After 7-8 overs, Anil bhai told me to stop. I was going back, I had literally given the ball to him. He told me to stop and then Viru bhai (Virender Sehwag) said that he bowls long spells, let him continue.  

Anil bhai asked me if I’ll bowl another over, I told him I’ll bowl 2-3 if needed. That over was when I got Ricky Ponting out. I had bowled the same way, but it got straight on its own. There’s a saying, ‘If the bowler doesn’t know what happened, how will the batsman know?’ That’s what happened. When you play the Ranji Trophy, you keep doing the same thing day in, day out. That was against Ricky Ponting at the international level, that’s why it gets so hyped. 

You’re a fast bowler who bowls long spells, but it takes a toll on the body. At some stage because you were bowling so much, did you ever think that you have to cut down on pace for more control? Do I start bowling a little slower or if you want to be an all-out fast bowler? When did you get that understanding? 

I never thought of bowling slow. When we played that series against Australia in 2008, I won man-of-the-series. But you know, I always thought man-of-the-match was the most important award. Gary Kirsten asked me, ‘How are you feeling?’ I said normal, then he was like, ‘No, you got man-of-the-series against Australia’. I didn’t know I was the first fast bowler since Kapil Dev to win man-of-the-series against Australia. I was like ‘okay, I had no idea. Why did they give me man-of-the-series and not man-of-the-match?’ Then he slapped me on the ear and said, ‘man-of-the-series means you did well for the whole series, man-of-the-match means you did well for just one match.’ I was like, ‘yeah, that’s right’. 

What’s your favorite spell? 

I have two-three spells. In that 2008 series against Australia then the way I bowled in Nagpur (4^th Test, 2008-09 season). At the time, me and Zak paa (Zaheer Khan) both bowled in a Bangalore Test match where I had four wickets and he had five.

The second Test, we played in Mohali, and the third one we played in Delhi. The first game was a draw, the second game was a win, and the third one was a draw, so the fourth one was important. There we were bowling spells of nine overs. We weren’t getting wickets but I bowled that nine-over spell, Hayden and (Simon) Katich were playing.

Bowling to Hayden is very tough because when he’s standing, you can’t see the stumps, so you can’t set a line. Bowling to him was the most difficult at the time, but later it was Steve Smith.  After that spell, Michael Clarke came to bat. I bowled in-swingers consistently through that series, to Clarke I reverse swinged one and got him out caught behind.