Not Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Shami; Ishant Sharma is Virat Kohli’s go-to man, Ex-English Pacer Steve Harmison

Eng vs Ind 2021: It could come as a surprise to fans as Harmison did not name Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Shami, instead, he went for the more experienced Ishant Sharma

London: It was the Indian pacers that hogged all the limelight after KL Rahul’s brilliant ton at Lord’s in the second Test versus England. While all the pace bowlers chipped in the win by picking all the 20 wickets, former English pacer Steve Harmison has picked who he feels is Virat Kohli’s go-to bowler.

It could come as a surprise to fans as Harmison did not name Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Shami, instead, he went for the more experienced Ishant Sharma, who he reckons is Kohli’s go-to bowler.

“You’ve got a tall bowler in Ishant who likes to get the ball going in naturally and because he has such a nice seam position, he can at times roll his fingers a little bit and get the ball nip away. So that way he’s very very dangerous as you can be doubtful about where your off stump is. That’s why he is Virat’s go-to man as he can give him a lot of overs,” Harmison told ESPNCricinfo.

It was the tall Indian fast bowler that took the crucial wicket of Jonny Bairstow at the stroke of tea on the final day at Lord’s that gave India the momentum and advantage heading into the final session.

The ex-English pacer who played 63 Tests, 58 ODIs and 2 T20Is for England, reckoned Shami and Ishant complement each other very well.

“With that, you’ve got somebody like Ishant who is 6 foot or 4 and Shami who is about 5 foot 10. One is bringing the ball back in, the other is taking it away. They complement each other a lot,” he added.

The third Test starts on August 25 and India would have the momentum and the lead on their side. The Kohli-led outfit would start firm favourites at Leeds.