Ishant Sharma becomes the sixth Indian bowler to achieve 300 wickets in Tests

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma brought up a substantial personal milestone as he became the sixth Indian bowler to scalp 300 Test wickets. Sharma trapped England batsman Dan Lawrence in the second innings of the first Test at Chennai. Ishant Sharma also became the 35th bowler to reach the 300-wicket mark in the most extended format of the game. The 300-wicket list comprises 26 fast bowlers and nine spinners. The top three entries are spin bowlers: Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708), and Anil Kumble (619). The list consists of six bowlers from India and Australia, five from England and South Africa, four from West Indies, and three from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand.

Ishant Sharma is the slowest Indian bowler to reach 300 wickets

Sharma is the slowest Indian bowler to reach the 300-wicket mark in Tests. The fast bowler achieved the feat in 98 matches. The record was with former New Zealand all-rounder Daniel Vettori. The spinner scalped 300 wickets in 94 Test matches.

The 32-year-old is only behind Ravichandran Ashwin, who achieved the milestone in just 54 matches. Ashwin is the fastest bowler in the world to pick 300 wickets in Tests. Ashwin is followed by former leg-spinner Anil Kumble (66), Harbhajan Singh (72), Kapil Dev (83), and Zaheer Khan (89). In 2007, Ishant Sharma made his Test debut against Bangladesh, and Mashrafe Mortaza was his first wicket. His performances dipped along the way before he turned things around in the past five years. The pacer has now emerged as one of India's best bowlers in Test cricket. Life as an Indian fast bowler was not an easy one for Ishant Sharma. The bowler has suffered both from loss of form and injuries in the past. Despite that, he has emerged as the leader of a strong Indian fast bowling unit with Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Mohammed Shami. 

In the on-going series against England, Sharma was India's most effective bowler in the first innings. The seamer picked up Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer's wickets off consecutive deliveries and finished with 2/52 in 27 overs.

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