Sportskeeda's Top 50 Indian Test cricketers of all-time (40-31)

#38 Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma burst onto the scene by rattling Ricky Ponting with a vicious spell at Perth in 2008

Ishant Sharma announced his arrival with a ferocious spell against Australia at the WACA in the 2007/08 series. The manner in which he tormented an in-form Ricky Ponting on a rapid Perth surface instantly turned him into a household name. However, as his career began to progress, the lanky fast bowler from Delhi struggled to meet the burden of expectations that had emanated from his promising start.

However, during the course of the last few seasons, Ishant has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in Test cricket. Realising that he might not be able to control his lengths without sacrificing a yard of pace, the right-armer transformed himself into a metronome capable of sending down countless economical overs in stifling conditions. As things stand, only Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath have taken more wickets than Ishant among Indian fast bowlers.

Career Span: 2007-present

*Statistics: 218 wickets from 77 matches at an average of 36.93 and strike-rate of 67.7 with 7 five-wicket hauls and 1 ten-wicket haul

(*Note: All Statistics are accurate as of 7th October 2017)