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Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma talked about how MS Dhoni was the driving force behind grooming the next generation of fast bowlers in his recent interview on JioCinema. Virat Kohli, Dhoni's successor, got a complete package of fast bowlers to take Indian cricket to the next level, according to the 34-year-old.
Notably, MS Dhoni captained Team India from 2007 to 2016, wherein fast bowlers like Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah, among others, made their debut in international cricket. Before Virat Kohli took over as the new full-time captain of the Indian cricket team in all formats in 2017, he had a plethora of quality fast bowlers to compete against any team in the world in any conditions.
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During his interview with JioCinema, Ishant Sharma was quoted as saying, as per Indian Express, “When Virat was captain, bowling was complete. When we were playing under Mahi bhai, we were in a transition phase. At that time, Shami and Umesh were new, and only I was there. Everyone else would rotate. Bhuvi was also new. There is no match for Mahi bhai as a communicator.”
“But, what he did was groom the bowlers and leave them with Virat. Shami and Umesh, over time, became different bowlers, and then, Jasprit came in. So, he got a complete package,” he added.
Ishant Sharma spoke about the qualities of Virat Kohli as captain, mentioning that he was very good at identifying the traits of his fast bowlers to give them a defined role in the team. He said, “The best thing he did was identify everyone’s traits, that he used to talk about one thing with one person and then let them be.”
“First thing, he was aggressive. If you’re bowling with the new ball, you can concede 25 runs in five overs as long as you take two wickets. The important thing was that he gave everyone defined roles,” remarked Ishant Sharma.
