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No-ball headlines had no effect: Ishant

Fast-bowling veteran returns best figures after coming under fire for overstepping throughout Adelaide Test

Having produced his best Test figures against Australia, Ishant Sharma took great delight in rubbishing the notion his no-ball dramas were the reason for a skittish start to the game in Perth.

Ishant dismissed Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood with consecutive deliveries on Saturday to end the hosts' first innings and finish with 4-41 – his best innings return against Australia.

It came after days of scrutiny, triggered by his habit of overstepping in the four-Test series opener at Adelaide Oval.

Ishant emphatically denied the headlines, including a report that revealed he should have been called for 16 no-balls in Australia's first innings of the first Test, affected his mindset at Perth Stadium.

"Maybe the Australian media should answer that question more than me," he said.

"Because it doesn't affect me to be very honest.

"I know that I've been playing cricket for so long and all these things happen because you're a human. You're bound to make a mistake.

"I was not at all worried about all these things."

Titans trade blows in Test classic

Nonetheless, the veteran was far from his best early on day one of the second Test.

The 30-year-old was taken out of the attack after struggling to hit the 130kph mark in his fourth over, which featured three boundaries and a no-ball.

Former Australia pacemen Damien Fleming and Glenn McGrath felt the public no-ball discussions may have been a factor in Ishant's ineffectual opening spell, however the paceman offered a different explanation.

"The wicket was really slow ... it wasn't up and down," he said. "First hour (on day one) was the best time to bat on that kind of wicket."

Ishant removed Peter Handscomb, thanks to a spectacular one-handed slips catch from Virat Kohli, and Travis Head, who picked out Mohammed Shami in the deep, on day one before cleaning up the tail on day two.

Kohli suggested prior to the second Test Sharma was upset with himself for overstepping so often in Adelaide and determined to make amends.

"He was very keen to rectify it. I don't think it was something that needed to be spoken about again and again," Kohli said.

"He's a responsible cricketer, he's been around a long time and he understands what needs to be corrected."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval, India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar