Former India bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad feels India’s senior medium-pacer Ishant Sharma is yet to realise his true potential. India have picked five pacers for the South Africa tour – Ishant, Umesh Yadav, Bhuveshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah — for the three-Test series, starting January 5 in Cape Town. Prasad feels with the experience, Ishant Sharma must lead the bowling attack on South African pitches.
“Ishant has been around for more than a decade. It is high time that he leads the attack. I don’t know what the issue is. He has got the pace, the height, the aggression but he has not realised his potential. He should be playing the role that Srinath (Javagal) played when he was around, or Zaheer Khan or Kapil Dev when they played,” Prasad told.
Ishant made his Test debut way back in 2007 and has played 79 Tests since then, taking 226 wickets at an average of 36.55.
“They all (Ishant, Umesh, Bhuvi, Shami and Bumrah) are different to each other. With more and more cricket being played and more rolling, the pitches in South Africa are not what they were 10-15 years ago” he added.
