Birthday special: Ishant Sharma – 3 lesser-known facts about the lanky pacer
There isn’t an Indian cricket fan who doesn’t remember a young Ishant Sharma rattling the seasoned Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting in one of the most impressive fast bowling spells by an Indian in 2007.
The then 19-year-old lanky pacer went on to spearhead the Indian cricket team for over a decade, scalping 311 wickets in 105 matches in red-ball cricket, the second most by an Indian pacer behind the legendary Kapil Dev.
Although the tall pacer from Delhi is largely on the periphery these days with the emergence of the new generation of pacers, his iconic spells in Australia and England will always be remembered fondly by Indian fans.
On the Indian cricketer’s 35th birthday, here is a look at some of the lesser-known facts about the right-arm quick bowler.
Ishant Sharma was the most expensive bowler in the IPL auctions of the inaugural edition of the IPL.
Ishant Sharma rose to prominence after a successful campaign with the India U-19 team. His performance was noticed by the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, who snapped up the young pacer for $950,000 in the inaugural season of the IPL, which was the highest amount paid for a bowler in that year’s tournament.
Ishant Sharma started his U-19 playing career alongside former Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
Ishant Sharma was included in the India under-19 side for the tour of England in 2006 where he made his ODI and Test debut for the team alongside Virat Kohli, who later went on to captain Sharma in the Indian team. Incidentally, the duo also made their first class and Ranji debut in the same match against Tamil Nadu in 2007, which was also the Ranji debut of Indian opener Murli Vijay.
Ishant Sharma has dropped some costly catches for India in the Tests.
Renowned for his fast-bowling prowess, Ishant Sharma did not cover himself in glory with his fielding efforts. Unfortunately, the Indian pacer holds an embarrassing distinction of dropping Alastair Cook (294), Michael Clarke (329*), and Brendon McCullum (302) early in their innings during three of the highest individual scores ever made against India in Tests.
