OTD: Birthday of Ishant Sharma who boosted up India's pace battery

September 2, 1988- birthday of Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, who was once considered the successor of Zaheer Khan. The 6 ft 4 inch tall bowler with long hair and smooth bowling action was meant to be a fast bowler who played over 100 Test matches for team India.

After making a Test debut in May 2007, Sharma quickly became a sensation in the world of cricket. From late 2007 to 2008, Ishant bowled promisingly, especially against Australia. His first Test 5-wicket haul was against Pakistan in Bengaluru, and then he claimed another 5-wicket stat during a game against South Africa. Three matches later, Ishant captured 7 wickets in Bengaluru; this time the victim was the Australia cricket team.

But somehow, the pacer couldn't hold his momentum and started to drop form along with bowling speed. The right-handed pacer's career graph barely remained on the summit according to his potential. With lots of ups and downs, he again and again repackaged himself and delivered on pitch. When he completed 50 tests in early 2013, he had among the worst averages for bowlers with 50 test caps to their name, but the following year he was instrumental in India's famous Test win at Lord's, taking a career-best 7 for 74 in the match.

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He could have offer more

The fast bowlers' last few Test matches with India against New Zealand and England were full of disappointments. Ishant played his last Test match on November 25, 2021. A year later, he was an important figure in demolishing Sri Lanka in their homeland. 

In 105 tests, Ishant Sharma picked up 311 wickets, and in 80 ODIs, he took 115 scalps at an economy rate of 5.72, while in 14 T20Is, he got only 8 wickets.