Ishant Sharma: Dark horse turned leader of the pack

Ishant Sharma made his debut for India over a decade ago at the precocious age of 19. His journey so far has been full of ups and downs. But he has finally started to emerge as the leader of the Indian bowling unit, with some highly consistent performances over the past couple of years.

Back in 2008, Ishant’s devastating spell against Australian legend Ricky Ponting saw him make the headlines. But inconsistent performances and a drop in pace led to many ridiculing his place in the Indian side. Undeterred, Sharma put his head down and became not only the workhorse but the leader of the current Indian pace unit. This speaks volumes about Ishant’s character, who now stands on the verge of breaking many records donning the Indian jersey.

Watch all dismissals of Ricky Ponting by Ishant Sharma here:

A tough period

After his performances against Australia, Ishant failed to live up to the massive expectations on his shoulders. He was often dropped from the side. Even when given a chance, his performances were often under-par. He also had the misfortune of enduring a couple of injuries. This led to him becoming a butt of all jokes among fans of Indian cricket. He was sometimes made fun of for his height. Other times he was ridiculed for either his long hair or his voice.

A timeline

On his maiden tour of the West Indies, Ishant was a big success story. In a Test match at Bridgetown in 2010, Ishant ended up entering the record books with 10 wickets. This made him the first Indian to bag 10 wickets in a Test match in West Indies. In the next Test, he picked up 5 more wickets, ending the tour with 22 wickets.

This led to the feeling that Ishant had finally evolved as a pacer and would be a big success story for India. But once again, his form deserted him. He only managed to pick up 7 wickets in 5 matches in 2012 and 12 wickets in the following year.

2014 again turned out to be a good year for Ishant. He had good away tours of New Zealand, England and Australia. His spell at Lord’s where he picked up 7 wickets was in particular, a big highlight. But the three years which followed were again marred by mediocre performances.

His wavering performances saw him drop out of the reckoning of the ODI and T20I teams. A new crop of pacers including Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah started to emerge, making his task all the more difficult.

Inclination towards Test cricket

This led to him turning his attention towards the longest format of the game, which proved to be a masterstroke. The year 2018 was very fruitful for Ishant. He repeated his feat from 2011, scalping more than 40 wickets in the year. He ended the season with 41 scalps.

After overcoming various obstacles, Ishant has now firmly established himself as one of the best Test bowlers in the world. His five-wicket haul in the first Test against Windies at Antigua again reaffirmed this fact. He is now edging closer to playing 100 Test matches for India. He will become only the second Indian pacer after Kapil Dev to achieve this milestone.

Overtakes Kapil Dev

Ishant after his performance in Antigua overtook both Kapil Dev and Harbhajan Singh who had 35 and 36 wickets in the West Indies respectively. With his 3 wickets in Jamaica, he also sped past S Venkataraghavan (39 wickets). Ishant now only trails behind Anil Kumble (45 wickets).

With his performances in the Caribbean, Sharma also overtook the legendary Kapil Dev in achieving another landmark. The pacer now only trails Anil Kumble in the most wickets picked by an Indian outside Asia. Ishant has picked up 163 wickets in 47 Tests so far, crossing the mark of 155 wickets in 45 matches by Kapil. With the kind of form which he has showcased, no one would bet against him crossing Kumble’s tally of 200 wickets in 50 Tests.

From a long-haired maverick to a cornerstone of the No.1 Test side in the world, it has certainly been some journey for Ishant!