Ishant Sharma stepped up to the plate at Lord's: Zaheer Khan

Ishant Sharma (right) came up with career-best figures of 7/74 at Lord’s

Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan was full of praise for Ishant Sharma, whose career-best figures of 7/74 on the 5th day of the 2nd Test gave India a memorable win against England. Ishant is, by far, the most experienced bowler in the current side, with 57 Test caps to his name, and the onus was on him to deliver coming into the England series.

"Ishant stepped up to the plate and ran in hard when his team required it the most. This victory will particularly be good for him as he is the senior bowler in the side," said Zaheer.

The Delhi quick is the only one from the current contingent to have played Test cricket in England before. Zaheer was, therefore, particularly impressed with the way the Indian bowlers adjusted to the peculiar conditions at Lord’s and ended up out-bowling their more experienced English counterparts.

"Indian bowlers exploited the conditions well. It was good to see our bowlers rise to the occasion," he said.

The 35-year old went on to praise Ishant’s aggression with the ball on the final day and said that it showed how keen the team were to win their 1st overseas Test in more than 3 years.

"When you want to win a Test match badly you do everything that is possible to put pressure on the opposition. Everyone was hungry to win the game and they kept on pushing at the English."

While Zaheer, who has had the experience of a Test series victory in England in 2007, showered effusive praise on the entire team for their performance, he did have a word of caution, too. He urged the team to not get carried away with one good performance and stressed the need for the fast bowlers to keep themselves in good shape for the remaining 3 Test matches.

"I keep on repeating that there is still a long way to go in the series. The bowlers need to keep themselves fresh and stay fit for the upcoming matches," he concluded.