Ishant Sharma: An unsung hero of Indian fast bowling

At the age of 18, Sharma was called to join the Indian squad for the tour of South Africa in 2006—07. However, after receiving the call and organising travel arrangements, it was decided not to send him on the tour. In reference to his height and lean physique in his Under-19 days, the bowler was nicknamed Lambu.

In 2011, he became the fifth youngest player to take 100 Test wickets. Against South Africa in 2013, Ishant Sharma became the fifth quickest Indian to grab 100 ODI wickets. While being a “rhythm” bowler, he still is considered one of the fastest Indian bowlers having bowled in excess of 150 km/h on several occasions in international cricket as well as the IPL, his fastest being 152.2 km/h bowled to Ricky Ponting on Boxing Day Test in 2011.

Ishant Sharma knows that his career would have been easier if he was English. For in India, bowling fast can seem as futile as playing chess against Garry Kasparov. You got the slow wickets — doesnt bounce, spinners are into the game most of the time, says Sharma, with a slightly long-suffering air. He has been trying to overcome these limitations for 11 years in Test cricket, one of the longest careers of any Indian fast bowler.

On Indias last Test tour of England in 2014, Sharma took seven for 74 to seal a famous Indian victory at Lords. He embraces bowling in England like a farmer greets rain after months of drought.

The weather is so nice, you can bowl long spells, the conditions are helpful. The ball is nice, the wicket is favourable. Theres a lot of difference between bowling in England and India. In England, where Sharma has been preparing with a stint at Sussex, the order he knows in India is reversed. Spinners need to contain the runs, and fast bowlers are the ones who are going to take the wickets.

And yet Sharma has built a career upon his durability in Indian conditions. For all his qualities — consistency, variety, bounce from his 6ft 4in frame — perhaps most important is the sheer bloody-mindedness that has sustained Sharma during 11 years in Test cricket. He is celebrating for bowling the dirty overs: those times when the ball has gone soft, the batsmen are set and the heat is unforgiving.

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma wreaked havoc on the Bangladesh team as he picked up five wickets in the first innings and four in the second. Some of the greatest fast bowler shared their opinions on Ishant sharma. Former Australian great, Glenn McGrath, feels Ishant is more of a workhorse than a strike bowler and needs to figure out his role in the Indian team, but he is happy that Ishant is slowly adapting to conditions, commenting When Ishant started off, he took the world by storm bowling good pace. He is probably not bowling at the same pace. But he is much more experienced now with good control. The Edgbaston Test showed that Ishant has started adopting a bit more.