Many had told him about the problem in his bowling but only one provided him with the solution. For that, Ishant Sharma is grateful to Jason Gillespie.

“The problem in India is that everybody tells you about the problem but no one tells you the solution. Knowing the solution is an important aspect,” Ishant told reporters during an interaction at the Kotla after the Ranji Trophy encounter against Hyderabad.

“I have realised that may be one or two people worked on the solutions. Everyone can tell you the problem but one who is a good coach will tell you about solutions,” said the veteran of 96 Tests.

So what was his problem? “A lot of people would tell me that I need to increase the pace of my fuller deliveries. No one told me how to do that? It was when I went to play County cricket that Jason Gillespie gave me the solution,” said Ishant, who played for Sussex under Gillespie’s coaching.

“Gillespie told me that in order to increase pace for fuller deliveries, you don’t just release it, but hit the deck so that it should target the knee roll,” he said.

Ishant also explained how Gillespie changed his training methods to get better results. “Earlier, I would put cones (on good length spots) during nets. But that’s okay for a youngster, who wants to get his areas right. For someone like me, I need to see where my ball is finishing rather than where it’s pitched.”