India vs Australia | Ishant Sharma believes it is his last tour Down Under

India and Australia would play a four-match Test series starting from December 6 and Ishant Sharma, being the most capped cricketer in the side, is expected to take up more responsibility on his shoulders. He has always had a good record down under and is expected to give his 100% in the upcoming tour as well. The lanky pacer has played 10 Tests in Australia scalping 20 wickets so far.

"I always go for the kill because when you play for your country, you can't think of a second chance. I am 30 right now. I don't know if I will be there for the next tour (of Australia in 2022-23) as I will be 34 by then. I will give my level best on this tour," Ishant said during an interaction, PTI reported. 

The 30-year-old recently played for his home state Delhi during the second round of Ranji Trophy against Himachal Pradesh and managed to pick up only four wickets in both the innings together. He had, however, bowled well in the English tour and maintained a good channel around the off stump troubling the Englishmen in seamer-friendly conditions there. He ended up with 18 wickets from five Tests on the England tour earlier this year.

"I am matured right now and I know my field settings and bowl according to situations. As you grow old, there is lot of wear and tear in your body. It's all about the mental state. If you are fit and in good mind space, you can say you are bowling well," said Ishant.

Ishant has 256 wickets from 87 Tests and would be one of the senior players in the squad touring to Australia and has expressed his willingness to guide other young Indian pacers in the side, sharing his experience with them. He has also been of the opinion that the seniors in the team should be free with the juniors and joke around with them.

"I share my experience, I mean whatever experience I have. I can set the field and tell them which lengths to bowl on particular tracks. Once the younger lot becomes senior, they should also then guide the juniors,” the Delhi pacer said.

"They should joke around with their juniors. I am not that kind of senior who says negative things to juniors like 'why have you done that' etc. I am a senior who should set different benchmark for my juniors," he said.

Ishant admitted that Australia would not be the same without Steve Smith and David Warner, who are serving a ban after the sandpaper gate, but he also warned that the Kangaroos couldn't be taken lightly. He stressed on the fact that Australia are a tough side and the crowd would make it tougher for the visiting teams. 

"You can say that (advantage India). Statistics reveal that in recent years, 60 percent of their runs have been scored by Smith and Warner," explained Ishant.

"But whoever plays for Australia must have some quality and have been a performer at their first-class level. So you can't take them lightly. Australia, in general, is a tough side, the crowd can make it even tougher. But it can also make you a tough player and I never had any issues with that," said Ishant.

Despite picking up a decent 115 wickets from 80 ODIs, Ishant has been out of the limited overs team since January 2016. He also revealed that he always wanted to play for India in all three formats of the game but didn't want to ponder over these negative things in his career.

"It does rankle that I don't play ODIs. Yes, I feel bad about it. I want to play all three formats for the country. But there are a few things which you can't control and I don't want to think about too many negative things," the 30-year-old said.

"If I start thinking why I am not playing ODIs, then that can affect my Test performance also. My aim is to concentrate on the format that I am playing."