SK Flashback: Ishant Sharma's ODI debut

The art of fast bowling was once considered to be a rarity in the Indian cricket. With the scorching heat and flat decks on offer, the conditions were more suited for the craft of batsmanship. Despite the nature of the wickets all over the country not favouring fast bowling, a young Ishant Sharma was not deterred from taking up the sport. His sole aim was to bowl fast.

With the dream of donning the national colours, a tall and lanky medium pacer emerged from the grinds of age group cricket to become one of the fastest bowlers produced in Indian cricket.

Early days

Ishant Sharma burst onto the scene in the domestic cricket with a match-defining five-wicket haul against Baroda on the opening day of a league match in the Ranji Trophy for his state side, Delhi. The right arm medium pacer made maximum use of his height to generate steep bounce from the wicket and trouble the opposition batting unit in the first innings.

However, his exploits with the ball were not enough to grant his side an outright victory over their counterparts as they launched a fight back in the second innings to ensure the contest ended in a stalemate.

Ever since his first-class debut, he has been a prolific performer for the Delhi outfit and has often given them crucial breakthroughs early in the innings.

ODI debut

29^th June 2007 will always be a very special day for Ishant Sharma as this day 10 years ago marked the beginning of his international career in the limited-overs format. Just over a month after making his Test match debut against Bangladesh, Sharma made his One Day International debut against South Africa in the second match of the Future Cup at Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast.

The Indian skipper, Rahul Dravid, won the toss and elected to bowl first on a wicket which assisted the seam bowlers, early in the innings. His bowlers did not disappoint him either as a disciplined bowling effort ensured that the Proteas were restricted to 226 for the loss of six wickets in the first innings.

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Despite the conditions being conducive for medium pacers, Sharma failed to make any inroads on his debut and conceded 38 runs in his seven overs.The inconsistency in his line and length meant that he was taken apart for plenty of runs by the African outfit. In reply, the formidable Indian batting unit led by the master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar’s half-century at the top of the order ensured a comprehensive six-wicket victory for the Men in Blue.

Despite the win, Sharma endured a disappointing outing on his debut.

The turning point

The Australian series proved to be the turning point in his career

An inconsistent start to the international career resulted in him being in and out of the Indian squad. With the Indian team touring Australia for a Test series in December, Sharma was picked in the squad to bolster the bowling department. And as they say, the rest is history as the lanky fast bowler was the find of the series for the Indian team.

The monkey gate controversy in the second Test match of the series at Sydney spurred the Indian team to come back strongly in the next game and script one of their finest victories in Test match cricket.

In the third Test match of the series held at the WACA ground in Perth, Sharma bowled one of the most memorable spells in the history of the game. A 19-year-old Sharma steaming in to bowl over after over on the fast and bouncy track at the WACA to one of the legends of the game, Ricky Ponting, on the fourth day of the test match is etched in the memory of every cricket loving fan.

Bowling a probing line outside the off stump, Sharma troubled the Australian skipper time and again with his consistency. Ponting was beaten quite a few times and after toiling hard by bowling in the channel of uncertainty, Sharma was finally rewarded with the prized wicket of the Australian skipper to end what was a memorable spell of bowling in the longest format of the game.

The Aussies failed to recover from the loss of their best batsman and succumbed under pressure, giving the visiting side a famous win down under. Although the man of the match trophy was awarded to Irfan Pathan for his all-round performance, the real architect of the famous win with his game defining spell in the second innings was Ishant Sharma.

The outcome of the spell

The superb spell of fast bowling marked the beginning of his illustrious career in the Test matches. His ability to consistently bowl in the right areas and trouble the opposition, yielded him rich dividends as he raced away to become the fifth youngest player to pick up 100 Test wickets.

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Despite his success in the longest format of the game, Sharma has failed to create the same magic in the shorter formats as he struggled to curtail the flow of the runs and also provide the team with much-needed breakthroughs in the middle overs.