After yet another tough day in the field, India pacer Ishant Sharma believes he cannot only blame bad luck for his lack of wickets in the ongoing series Down Under.
The lanky pacer went wicket less after Australia declared their first innings at 604 for seven on day two of the final Test at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
"Am I the unluckiest bowler? You can't say that because cricket is a funny game. You never know what's going to happen next. All you can do is to hope for the best," said Ishant. "When you choose fast bowling, it's a tough job.
When you are bowling on flat tracks in India and you don't get anything out of it, you still carry on because bowling for your country is a big motivation. That remains the most important thing for me," he said.
When quizzed about what tips veteran batting Sachin Tendulkar has to offer to the pacer in the nets he said, "He doesn't tell me to bowl full because he knows it's not my natural style.
He tells me to stick to my natural style, just swing a little if you can, because conditions are helpful to swing bowling. He says if you can swing, you have better chance to get them out."
The 23-year-old is aware that maybe bowling fuller might in fact help him pick up wickets but Ishant disagreed.
"I know people keep saying bowl fuller. But I know what's important for me. For me, it's important to vary my length. That works for me. I try to work on my strength."
Instead, Ishant pointed out that it was difficult to get the ball to swing after the first few overs.
"Sometimes, when I bowl as one change, the ball is not conducive for swing. In those times, you need to be patient and keep bowling in the right areas."
The series has been far from successful for the Indian bowling unit but Ishant came to the defence of India's under fire bowling coach Eric Simmons.
"Simmons is a nice coach and I am getting alone well with him. Except Perth, we have bowled well. We are bowling in right areas and trying to be patient," he said.
"Wicket is flat. We are also unlucky. We are beating bats, getting edges but it's falling short of fielders. You can't do much. Hopefully luck would favour us."
Ishant also refused to agree that Rahul Dravid needed tweaking in his technique after he was bowled for the sixth time in the series on Wednesday.
"If you are talking about technique, none of the batsman in the world have better than him. His performance says everything. He is the second highest run-getter in Test history. I don't think he needs to worry about."
And what did the bowler have to say about India's chances in the final Test?
"Obviously, we are positive. Even in 2003, they scored 550-odd runs but we won the game. We are looking for next three good days. This is a kind of track like you have in India. It's a good track for us to score runs."