ishant sharma

The process of having a team in place for the 2011 World Cup seems to have taken a proper course. There is lot of time for the selectors to identify and groom the possible players and it is nice to see the likes of Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma and S. Sreesanth performing consistently.

I remember the time when Zaheer Khan had arrived with a bang in 2000. I was coach of the Kenyan team then and had watched Zaheer from close quarters. He had promised so much and most of us were impressed with his speed and accuracy. But down the line he lost pace and his accuracy. It was strange because he had looked so good. I remember Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath, two fine examples of bowlers who did not lose their speed as time progressed.

Here, I would like to mention two superb bowlers_Ashish Nehra and L. Balaji_who faded because of injuries. Looking at them, I think it becomes important that we handle someone like Ishant with care. Suddenly, everyone finds him to be the solution to all our bowling problems. That can't be the case because we need to give Ishant some more time and see how consistently he can deliver. I don't want the youngster to be loaded with needless pressure.

I remember Munaf Patel arriving with a similar promise but gradually struggling to match the expectations. Now, Ishant should be protected from a similar fate. It will also be too early to say that Rohit has class. He has promise but I would like to wait before judging his class. He must be careful with his shot selection because he tends to play casual at times. It is quite the same problem that I had. The support staff has a role to play here. How to make the best use of these gifted players and stop them from getting carried away.