Ishant Sharma

Pacers who peak in their 30s are a rare commodity and Ishant Sharma is one of the rarest. A veteran of red-ball cricket, Ishant has found his second version since 2017. He has not quite found his way in the white-ball format, especially the shortest form of the game, but to be fair to Ishant, he is the only Indian pacer to play 100 (or more) Tests.  

Ishant made his first-class debut for Delhi in November 2006 and ended the season with 68 wickets to his name after featuring in just 14 games. The youngster was awarded by getting included in the U-19 squad for the tour of England and Pakistan to play three youth Tests and six youth ODIs.

At the age of 18, the 6 feet 4-inch tall bowler made his Test debut against Bangladesh in May 2007 and made his first ODI appearance against South Africa at Belfast in June. However, Ishant introduced himself on the world stage during the 2007-08 Australian tour, where the lanky bowler made his opposition cranky with his steaming in-and-out swingers. Ishant also got his most telecasted spell when he teased Ricky Ponting at the WACA to get the Australian’s wicket twice in the Test. 

Post that series, Ishant got his T20 cap at Melbourne in February 2008. After early success, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders at USD 950000 for the inaugural edition of the IPL, but he wasn’t ‘the Ishant’, who showed glimpses of perfection Down Under. In 2011, he moved to Deccan Chargers but the inconsistency followed him there as well and the lanky pacer found no favours from his franchise. In 2013, Ishant was grabbed by Sunrisers Hyderabad and had three ordinary seasons with them as well. 

Meanwhile, he was a regular feature for the national side in the ODI format but missed the 2011 and 2015 World Cup due to unfortunate injuries. Though, Ishant was part of India during the victorious Champions Trophy campaign of 2013, held in England. He played a pivotal role in the final of the ICC event when he brought India back in the final by taking the wickets of the well-set duo of Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara in the 18th over of the game. 

Over the course of time, Ishant hasn’t ever shown a dip in form. He has always shown flashes of brilliance - i.e his 7-74 at Lord’s or the 6-51 at Wellington or the 10-108 at Bridgetown, but the inconsistent Ishant found his rhythm during his county stint. 

He joined Sussex for the 2017 county stint where he found his second and better version. At Brighton, he worked with Jason Gillespie who advised Ishant to target the knee-roll and hit the deck with the full-ish deliveries. Since then, the inconsistency has been yesterday’s affair for Ishant. He has regularly been performing at both home and foreign conditions and played a vital role in India’s fight in the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) in the 2018-19 season.

He was signed by the Delhi Capitals before the IPL 2018 for INR 1.1 crore. During the IPL, both Shreyas Iyer and Ponting were in awe of Ishant, who teased the opponent batters at the Delhi pitch. However, in the next season, the Indian pacer formed a formidable trio with Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, before ruling himself out of the IPL 2020 due to an injury.   

In 2021, he became the first Indian pacer to play 100 Tests. Ishant achieved the feat against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium. For now, the workhorse would be preparing himself for the 14th edition to help Delhi Capitals clinch their maiden title, and then the World Test Championship Final, which according to him will be no lesser than a World Cup trophy. 

(As of March 2021)