Cardiff: India’s semi-final man-of-the-match Ishant Sharma believes his side don’t need to make any special plans when they take on hosts England in the ICC Champions Trophy final on Sunday.
The lanky pacer took three for 33 from nine overs as India restricted Sri Lanka to 181 for eight before going on to win Thursday’s last-four clash by eight wickets.
India have been the form team of the tournament so far, winning all four of their matches, and Sharma believes that shows they don’t need to change anything when they play the final.
“We’ve played quite good cricket until now,” he said. “I don’t think we have to change anything. We will stick to the plans and we’ll stick to our strengths and what we did before — just carry on doing the same thing in the final.
“If you’re bowling in the right areas, no batsmen can be a challenge for you. What we’ve been doing in the last few games we are going to do the same thing in the final as well.”
Sharma may only be 24 years old, but he is the most experienced member of India’s current One Day International bowling attack with 59 ODI appearances. But he believes the backing of his teammates has been crucial in the form he has shown in the Champions Trophy.
“I don’t even consider myself like I’m the experienced bowler just because I have played in over 50 one-dayers,” he said. “We are just helping each other out and doing work with the bowling coach.
“We know now that with the five fielders in, it’s quite difficult for the bowler, so I keep working on my variations and it is going really well.”
He also praised captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saying: “I am pleased to have Dhoni on the side as captain. The support from the captain is very crucial for anyone, not only for me. He is always supporting every youngster in the team. He has been tremendous with everyone.”
Elaborating on how he bowled against Sri Lanka’s star batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Sharma said: “The wicket was really helping fast bowling. There was some bounce and movement for the fast bowlers, so I just kept hitting the lengths, though I was not pitching every single ball in the same spot. There was a plan for every ball to make them confused.”
