“All I was thinking about was…..”: DC pacer Ishant on yorker that dismissed Russell during KKR clash

Ahead of his side’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Mumbai Indians (MI), Delhi Capitals (DC) pacer Ishant Sharma opened up on the thought process behind the scorching yorker that brought down mighty Andre Russell down on the ground during the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Vizag.

In that match against KKR at Vizag, Delhi bowlers were punished heavily by the trio of Sunil Narine (85 in 39 balls, with seven fours and seven sixes), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (54 in 27 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Andre Russell (41 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes). Some additional touches from finisher Rinku Singh (26 in seven balls with a four and three sixes) powered KKR to 272/7 in their 20 overs. DC could make only 166 in return, despite the fifties from Rishabh Pant (55 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes) and Tristan Stubbs (54 in 32 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes).

A key highlight of the match was a fiery yorker that Russell missed completely, causing him to fall on the ground. The yorker ended Russell’s fiery cameo knock and Ishant had ended up with figures of 2/43 in four overs.

Speaking in a video posted by IPL, Ishant said that he focuses more on his execution, rather than thinking about field settings, ground dimensions or the batter he is facing. He also said that there is no concept of “good ball” or “bad ball” in T20 cricket.

“I knew that five fielders were inside the circle and also if I missed, where the ball has to travel. It is difficult for the bowler to miss the execution, so all I was thinking about bowling a perfect yorker,” said Ishant.

“In this format, there is nothing like a good ball or a bad ball. You can get hit on good balls and take wickets on bad deliveries. So my thinking is to execute my deliveries as well as possible, according to my plans. I do not think much about field settings, ground dimensions and who is facing me,” added Ishant.

Ishant said that executing such yorkers requires a lot of practice.

“The more you practice, the better is your execution in pressure situations. I have practised a lot. I trained a lot, I had a lot of time in my hands. That is why that yorker was perfect,” he added.

Delhi Capitals Squad: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Abishek Porel, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Kumar Kushagra, Praveen Dubey, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Yash Dhull, Kuldeep Yadav, Ricky Bhui, Jhye Richardson, Shai Hope, Lalit Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Swastik Chikara
Mumbai Indians Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Piyush Chawla, Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Nehal Wadhera, Shams Mulani, Suryakumar Yadav, Vishnu Vinod, Shreyas Gopal, Luke Wood, Mohammad Nabi, Arjun Tendulkar, Kumar Kartikeya, Shivalik Sharma, Anshul Kamboj.