Ishant, ageing like fine wine

On another day dominated by England, Ishant Sharma passed a special milestone. The gangly Delhiite became just the third Indian speedster and fifth overall from the country to bag 300 Test wickets, the veteran continuing to push the boundaries as the competition for the pacers’ slots keeps rising.

Fast bowlers often have to toil hard to excel in sub-continental conditions and keep motoring on. The career of Ishant, playing his 98th Test, is filled with plenty of toil, tribulation and triumph. In fact, his career can be broken down into three phases. A tall fast bowler who announced himself to world cricket in 2007 with a special ability to get the ball to bounce from a good length and hit speeds consistently over 140 kmphs — a rarity in Indian cricket then — to someone who lost his attacking teeth in trying to play all formats to finally rediscovering himself in 2015, Ishant has had one heck of a ride.

Ishant’s colleague R Ashwin summed it up nicely on Monday. “Ishant is one of the most hardworking cricketers that I have seen. He has worked extremely hard for more than one reason, because being that tall itself requires lot of facets to be managed through a career which has spanned for 14 years now. From the Ishant that went to Australia and got Ricky Ponting out, he has gone on so many other tours, had his share of injuries. For a fast bowler to play close to 100 Tests is not a joke, it is a fantastic achievement, he is the third Indian fast bowler to get there.”

Having made a brilliant start to his Test career where he was hailed as the next ‘big’ thing to happen to Indian fast bowling, Ishant lost the plot in the next few years as he tried to excel in limited-overs cricket. The white ball doesn’t offer the same help as the red and with him not able to get the bounce from good length, Ishant altered himself into a defensive bowler to stay relevant.

Sadly, white ball habits crept into red ball and he ended up becoming defensive in Tests also. His role under then skipper MS Dhoni primarily was to hold his end up tightly. Ishant, in the bargain, ended up with fewer sticks in the wickets column but since he brought great control, Dhoni persisted with him. Sample this, when Ishant completed 50 Tests in early 2013, he had the worst average and strike rate for bowlers — not just pacers — who had completed the half-century landmark.

But since Virat Kohli has taken charge of the Indian team, Ishant has emerged a different beast. Although he has not necessarily given up on one-day cricket dream, Ishant is aware of the fact he can’t be playing all formats, given his advancing age and the intense competition. So, over the last few years, he has channelled all his energy into Test cricket, rediscovered his attacking mojo, reinvented himself to not only strengthen his place in the side but also emerge as a mentor for the talented next-gen.

From a mediocre average of 37.30 in 61 Tests between 2007-2014 to 24.07 in 37 games from 2015 until now, Ishant has become like a fine wine that just keeps getting better with age. He can get the ball to shoot from the good length area, he confidently pitches the ball up, moves it both ways and is a master with the old ball where he gets it to reverse nicely.

“I would really want to see him get to 400 and then 500 Test wickets to sort of set a road map for a lot of Indian fast bowlers,” remarked Ashwin. Ishant is 32 and if he’s able to maintain his fitness, it's not an unrealistic target.