India's young paceman Ishant Sharma was flattered at the praise he received from Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
Young India pacemen receives praise off his 'favourite batsman'
India's young paceman Ishant Sharma was flattered at the praise he received from Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
19-year-old Ishant was handed the man-of-the-match award during India's five-wicket win over Australia in Melbourne, thanks to his haul of 4-38 with the ball.
The Delhi paceman got rid of Ponting as he continued his spell of giving the Aussie skipper a hard time - as he also got him out twice in the third Test between the two sides in Perth.
Ponting responded by praising the improvement of the teenager during his tour Down Under, and the youngster was delighted with what he heard.
"It feels very good to receive a compliment from my favourite batsman," said Ishant, who added that success against Ponting was simply down to sticking to a plan.
"The plan to Ponting was to keep the ball on the fourth stump, and it worked," he said.
"I did nothing extra. I was just sticking to the plans we had prepared for each batsman."
New ball
"It was the first time in this one-day series that I was bowling with the new ball, but there was no pressure.
"I enjoyed the fact that the captain and the seniors had enough belief in me to entrust me with the new ball.
"They told me to concentrate on bowling well, and testing the batsmen out."
Ponting said that Ishant's improvement has led to India as a team becoming more competitive on their tour.
Ponting told the Telegraph: "He's been a big improvement for India.
"He is a little bit different because he brings the ball back in to the right-handers more than a lot of right-arm bowlers you face.
"He's tall and hits the deck pretty hard and gets some inconsistent bounce from the wicket - one will fly through and another would skid past low.
"He looks dangerous with the angles he creates against the left-handers, taking it away from them."
India face Sri Lanka in Canberra on Tuesday in the fifth match of the tri-nation Commonwealth Bank Series.
