Ishant Sharma shares a funny anecdote from his first international fifty

Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma is the oldest player in Test Cricket in the current Indian squad. The speedster made his debut way back in 2008 against Australia down under. The lanky fast-bowler came into the limelight after he bowled a magnificent spell against former Australian Captain Ricky Ponting and troubled him with his consistent line and length which finally resulted in Ponting’s dismissal.

The fast bowler has also enjoyed several memorable outings as a batter too in his long Test career. The 33-year-old cricketer recently revealed in an interview an unheard tale from the moment he scored his first ever international half-century in a Test against West Indies in 2019.

“Virat is one of those who expresses himself a lot on the field. Like when I too scored a half-century, he couldn’t believe it. So, these things keep happening in our team. When I was batting, Pujara and KL Rahul said, ‘If he scores a 100, we might as well jump off a building in Jamaica,’ because they had gotten out quickly,” the 33-year-old said on ‘The Warm-Up Show’ hosted by renowned sports presenter, Jatin Sapru.

Apart from his half-century, Ishant also had another memorable outing as a batter when he scored a gritty 31 against Australia in a thrilling fourth innings run-chase in a Test at Mohali in 2010. The tailender added 81 runs for the ninth wicket batting with VVS Laxman and took India closer to a thrilling victory. India eventually won the Test by 1 wicket as Ishant was the third highest scorer in the innings.

The seamer has picked up 311 wickets in 105 Tests for the country and is only behind legendary Kapil Dev in the list of most test wickets by an Indian seamer. The towering fast bowler bowled the best spell of his career when he picked up 7 wickets for 74 runs against England at Lord’s as India won a Test after 28 years at the historic venue.

Ishant was adjudged ‘Player of the match’ for his match-turning performance. Off late, Ishant is facing tough competition from other upcoming seamers in the team and has been made to warm the bench on numerous occasions.