5 Best Moments of Ishant Sharma's Career

Ishant Sharma looks at the set of stumps in the middle of the training session. He marks his run-up, bounds up to the crease, hair flying and jumping across his face as he delivers the ball, pitching it on off-stump and bringing it back into a right-hander. Ishant frowns. He walks back and talks to bowling coach Bharat Arun. They talk about wrist positions and angles. Ishant tries again and manages to get the ball to straighten. Now all he needs to do is do this consistently.Ishant is a man of extremes. He makes the news for brilliant bowling or he makes the news for dry, insipid and toothless bowling. Either way, he makes the news. Thrust into the national team at the age of 18, Ishant showed that he was capable of bowling fast - real fast. Genuine fast bowlers were a rarity in India and Ishant was immediately sent off to be groomed properly. He was later picked for the tour to Australia in 2007-08, where his entire life changed with one spell.Ishant, who turns 27 today, has often been made a media spectacle for his poor bowling. His long hair, wayward radar and inconsistent death bowling have made him a scapegoat in social circles. It’s easy to forget that he was at the centre of at least three of India’s greatest victories in the last few years.Here, we take a look at some of Ishant’s best moments.

#5 Brilliance in the IPL

Ishant’s 5-12 gave Deccan Chargers something to cheer about

The year was 2011, and it was IPL season. Mid-table team Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK) looked to capitalize on Deccan Chargers (DC), who were placed last. With a batting line-up boasting of Brendon McCullum, Mahela Jayawardene, and Brad Hodge, Kochi looked to sweep previous-champions DC under the rug. What they didn’t count on was Ishant Sharma.

Kochi bowled superbly to restrict the Chargers to 129-7 on a seaming wicket. With the job half-done, they looked up to their batsmen to give them a rousing start and get them over the line. The Kochi camp was full of smiles over the easy win they were about to get. Then it all started to go wrong. McCullum went for a duck in the first over by Steyn, but there was no panic yet. The target was just 130. Then Ishant came on.

His second ball seamed square and caught Parthiv Patel unawares, who tickled it through to the ‘keeper. The very next ball clean bowled Raiphi Gomez. The KTK management frowned. Brad Hodge came to the middle and calmly played two deliveries. His third ball knocked out middle stump. KTK were 2/4 and 130 looked a long way off. But Ishant wasn’t finished.

The first ball of his second over trapped Kedhar Jadhav in front, and he rounded it off by having Jayawardene caught behind. KTK were 11/6, the worst ever start in IPL history. Ishant had 5 wickets for 6 runs. The scoreboard read: 0 4 0 0 0 0. Their dreams of overpowering KTK vanished. Ishant had single-handedly destroyed an entire team. Though Deccan Chargers remained at the bottom of the table after the match, they were the ones smiling.

#4 A miracle at Mohali

Ishant Sharma faced 92 balls to help India salvage a 1-wicket win over Australi

When people are asked to describe Ishant, tall, fast and unpredictable are some of the words they use. Reliable batsman is seldom heard. But it was Ishant who took on that mantle back in 2010, as Australia reduced India to 124/8 in Mohali, needing a further 82 runs to win.

Australia was in India, trying to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, and it looked like they had sealed it at the first drinks break on day 5 of the first test, with India at 119/6. Set a target of 216 on a rapidly deteriorating pitch, India looked clueless against the Australian bowlers. Sehwag, Sachin, Dravid - all of the failed to contribute as India stared down the barrel. VVS Laxman, battling severe back pain was hanging in the middle with MS Dhoni for company. India still had more than 75 overs. They could still do it.

But Dhoni was unfortunately run out, and Harbhajan went two balls later. 124/6 became 124/8 as Ishant walked out to the crease. The Australians were grinning and high-fiving. Laxman groaned and wiped the sweat off his brow. Doug Bollinger bowled two testing deliveries, but Ishant kept it out. Johnson came back in the next over and put it in the channel, but Ishant watched it defensively. Hilfenhaus was given a go, and he narrowly missed off-stump. The next ball was hit for a boundary. Ponting frowned and gave the ball to Hauritz, the spinner. He was also managed comfortably. Ishant was on 12 from 22 and looking good.

Laxman started to play his shots, proving once again that he was Australias nemesis. Ishant played his part, stonewalling everything close to the stumps. Ponting kept shuffling his bowlers, but nobody could get Ishant out. Where greats like Tendulkar and Dravid had failed, Ishant stood firm. India inched towards the target. Johnson was given the license to bounce him out. Ishant used his considerable height to hit two boundaries off the over. Johnson was taken out of the attack. Ponting gave the ball to the part-timers, but again Ishant blocked it with his life. India passed 200.

When India only needed 12 runs to win, Ishant was wrongly given out LBW. The ball tracker showed that the ball would have missed leg-stump. Ishant walked off to raucous applause, knowing that his innings had saved the match. Four overs later, Laxman took India over the line. Ishant had played 92 balls for his 31 runs. It was the highest number of deliveries faced by a batsman in the Indian second innings. Where Ishant had failed to impress with the ball, he proved that he was just as capable of doing it with the bat.

#3 A Sri Lankan fairytale

Ishant derailed Sri Lanka with a mixture of aggression and good fast bowling

If Ishants entire career could be summed up in four words, it would be - Didnt bowl full enough. Though Ishant is primarily a test bowler, his tendency to bowl back of a length has seriously threatened his place in the side. Add that to his drop in pace and suddenly, Ishant looks as toothless as the rest of them. But when he bowls full, Ishant is in a whole other league.

India had come to Sri Lanka with the hope of getting a series win after 22 years. Under the wing of new captain Virat Kohli, the Indian team had arrived to set the record straight. They were in for a rude shock at Galle as they crumbled in the fourth innings to give Sri Lanka a win. But in the second test, they came back strongly to square the series 1-1. Ishant had returned with figures of 5-216 over four innings and was criticized for not doing enough. He had to step up to the plate in the third test if India were to achieve a series win in four years.

India put up a strong total of 312 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara carrying his bat. Ishant stepped out to bowl in the first innings. His initial overs showed that he had abandoned the plan of bowling back of a length and resorted to bowling full. It worked wonders. His deliveries to the left-handed batsmen were near unplayable. He moved it in, moved it away and hit the seam on numerous occasions. Ishants natural bounce accounted for Tharanga, and then a beautiful delivery from wide of the crease took care of dangerman Matthews.

Another length delivery got rid of Thirimanne as Sri Lanka slumped for 47/6. Kusal Perera played some good shots but Ishant double-bluffed him with a length delivery. Another peach ended Sri Lankas resistance as Ishant picked up his first five-fer in more than a year. It was also the best bowling figures at the SSC Colombo by an Indian player. Ishant was back again in the second innings, taking out Tharanga and Chandimal to leave Sri Lanka reeling. Mathews played a valiant hand, but Ishant struck with the new ball as he trapped Mathews on the pads, ending any hope that Sri Lanka had of a draw. India went to win a historic series in Sri Lanka, and the man who rightfully led them off the pitch was Indias pace spearhead, Ishant Sharma.

#2 Ishant to Ricky Ponting

Ishants spell to Ponting put him on the cricketing map

A lynchpin is something that holds an entire structure together. If you want to take out an entire structure, you have to take out the lynchpin first. In 2008, on Indias tour to Australia, India was controversially 2-0 down, going into the third test at Perth. If they had any idea of coming back into the series, they had to win at Perth. For that, they had to remove Australias lynchpin - Ricky Ponting.

Zaheer Khan had accounted for Ponting with a beauty in Melbourne, but he had gotten himself injured soon after. Ishanthad been included in the second innings, but two of his wickets were denied by the umpires. After the Sydney debacle, the onus was on the Indian bowlers to prove a point. India batted moderately well in the first innings and made 330. The bowlers showed superb control to restrict Australia to 212, giving them a lead of 118 runs. Ishant had noticeably troubled Ponting in the first innings, eventually getting his wicket.

Australia was given a target of 413 in the second innings. Irfan Pathan took care of the Aussie openers, but Ponting and Hussey had put on a 50-run partnership. Ponting was approaching his fifty, and if he got going, hed be impossible to stop. Kumble gave the ball to Ishant. Ishant revved up. What followed were seven brilliant overs. Ishant bowled 32 balls to Ponting out of which Ponting scored 13. Only seven balls were scoring shots. Ponting played and missed, defended and missed and was struck repeatedly on the pads.

Ishants seventh over was the one that changed the match the calm before the storm. The first ball was an in-swinger, which made Ponting play awkwardly. The next ball left him comprehensively beaten. The third came in again and trapped him in front, but was too high. Ponting was rattled. Kumble wanted to take him off, but Sehwag his Delhi captain persuaded him to give Ishant another go. Ishant struck with the first ball of his eight over. The ball pitched outside off, came in at an awkward height and then left Ponting. He could only edge it to Rahul Dravid at first slip.

Australias lynchpin had been taken apart by a Delhi boy, and Australia lost the test by 72 runs. Ishant Sharma had arrived on the big stage in style, and he would continue to trouble Ponting, dismissing his six more times in his career.

#1 On the Lord\'s honour board

Ishant’s barrage of short pitched bowling gave India a historic series win

India had not won a test away from home since playing in Lords’ at 2011. Now they were back in 2015, and MS Dhoni was getting desperate. India had managed to lose or draw matches from the jaws of victory, and Dhoni didn’t want a repeat of it. India had managed to hold the upper hand for most of the match, and set England an improbable target of 319 runs to win. They then reduced England to 72-4 and it looked like victory was theirs.

At least in three previous occasions, India had allowed a hundred-run partnership after taking 4 wickets. It was once again on display as Joe Root and Moeen Ali added 100 runs in quick time as England passed their halfway mark and were sitting pretty at 173-4. The Indian bowlers had tried everything, and nothing had worked. Dhoni also tried bowling Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan to no avail. It looked like India was set to lose another test. Then Dhoni pulled out Ishant out of the hat.

“I’ll put as many fielders as you want on the leg side,” Dhoni told Ishant. “Just bowl short.” Ishant complied. The over before lunch, Moeen Ali negotiated two harmless deliveries. If he just played one more, England would go into lunch with a massive psychological advantage. Ishant bowled it short at Ali’s throat. He gloved it to Pujara at short leg. England was five down. The tables had turned.

After lunch, Ishant produced one of the spells of a lifetime. Everything was short. The English batsmen ducked and weaved, trying to get out of the way. Matt Prior tried to hit his way out of the attack and found the fielder at deep midwicket. Ben Stokes followed his example and saw the ball land in Pujara’s hands. Ishant had five wickets. His name would go on the Lords’ honour board.

Three balls later, Ishant got the big fish. Joe Root decided to pull another short one - caught by Binny at square leg. Ishant still wasn’t finished. He bowled yet another short ball to Stuart Broad, who nicked it behind to MS Dhoni. Three overs later, Anderson was run out, and India won their first test away from home after 4 years. Their drought had started in Lords’ 2011, and it ended in Lords’ 2015. Ishant had a five-wicket haul, and it was the first time in a winning cause. He had taken 7-74, his best figures in international cricket. Ishant had broken India’s jinx, and he wouldn’t be ridiculed for a long time.