‘Pink ball behaves differently,’ says Ishant Sharma

Ishant reveals that it took time to get used to it.

Ishant Sharma, who took a five-for at home after a gap of 12 years, attributed the variety he has added to his arsenal for the swing in fortunes.

“I was looking for variety for quite some time. For instance, I was usually bowling outswingers to the left-handers. But I worked on a delivery that comes straight after pitching while appearing to move away. I think it is quite effective as I got three wickets with the delivery today [Friday],” said Ishant.

About his pink-ball experience, Ishant said it was quite different from the red ball. “The pink ball behaves quite differently and initially we had a bit of a struggle and had to adjust our line and length to be consistent.”

Ishant, when asked about finishing with a five-wicket haul at home after a long time, said he had tried to replicate the mindset with which he bowls while playing abroad. “I just tried to get into the mindset with which I play abroad. I told myself that if I can bowl and take a good number of wickets abroad, then why not do it in India,” he said.

Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo admitted that his top-order batsmen found it tough against the disciplined and deadly Indian pace attack. “The biggest difference was the tentativeness of our batsmen who could not counter the discipline with which the Indian pacers bowled,” he said.

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