Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma is undoubtedly the leader of the Indian pace attack in Tests but his performances in the shorter formats have always been ridiculed. While it is true that his tendency to continually bowl length balls make him predictable and easy to hit, especially in T20s, his height and ability to generate extra bounce also makes him a tricky customer to deal with.
Kochi Tuskers found this out the hard way against the Deccan Chargers in 2011. After winning the toss and electing to field, Mahela Jayawardene's side executed their plans perfectly and restricted the visitors to just 129. Although the total wasn't huge, the conditions meant it was going to be slightly tricky.
After Dale Steyn removed Brendon McCullum in the first over, Ishant Sharma made Kochi's worst nightmare come true as he picked up three wickets in four balls and only just missed out on a hat-trick as the Tuskers were reeling at 2/4 at the end of the second over. Parthiv Patel was deceived by the extra bounce, Raiphi Gomez was done by a sharp inswinger and Brad Hodge paid for his adventorousness as he edged one onto the stumps.The problem for Kochi was that Ishant wasn't done with that. He dismissed Kedar Jadhav with the first ball of his second over and saved the best for last as he produced a jaffa to dismiss the Kochi Tuskers captain. He finished with figures of 5/12 in his three overs, the second-best figures by an Indian in IPL history and Deccan Chargers won comfortably.
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