Why 300 Test wickets was no tall order for Ishant Sharma

“You haven’t heard of ‘Lambu’ and you claim to follow Delhi cricket,” said a bemused Lalchand Rajput when this writer confessed that he hadn’t heard of teenager Ishant Sharma. That conversation happened on a pleasant afternoon in the first week of June 2006, in Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy stadium, where India’s Under-19 squad was getting ready for the upcoming tour of England. Frankly, the chat with the then India U-19 coach had started with the mention of the prodigious Virat Kohli, who was also part of the same team.

While Rajput was convinced about Kohli’s class (he reckoned that Kohli was as good as Sachin Tendulkar), what surprised me was his prophecy of ‘100-Test material’  for young Delhi pacer Sharma, since only the great Kapil Dev has managed to play that many as a pace bowler from India.  “Sirf dekhne main hi lamba nahi balki lambi race ka ghoda hai Ishant,” added Rajput.  Almost a decade and a half later, Ishant has proved that sometimes longevity itself is enough to grant greatness. Just two short of 100 Test matches, Ishant’s entry into the elite club of 300 wickets as an Indian pacer is an exceptional accomplishment.

The first Test against England in Chennai may not have been a memorable one for Virat Kohli’s team because of a shocking defeat but the 32-year-old Sharma will always look at this match with a lot of fondness when he hangs up his boots. After all, he was all set to celebrate this personal milestone a year ago in New Zealand. In the first innings of the Wellington Test in February 2020, he had taken a five-wicket haul and the remaining three in the second innings looked inevitable. However, the Indian batting collapsed spectacularly in the second innings of the Test and he got to bowl just a solitary over in the second innings and then missed the tour of Australia because of an unfortunate injury.

One remembers telling Ishant that he was on the verge of a special feat when he was about to take the team bus after finishing his customary press conference in Wellington after the day’s play. Typically, he smiled and just said “Abhi toh bahut khelne hai, bhaiya (I still have a long way to go).”

As good as Zaheer?

Ishant started as a pace sensation and went on to play Test cricket inside just six months after making his Ranji trophy debut in November 2006 (incidentally, that year also marked Kohli’s debut in first-class cricket). Zaheer Khan has retired but his numbers in Test cricket are strikingly similar to Ishant’s figures. In terms of average (32.94 and 32.32) and economy (3.27 and 3.16), the Delhi pacer is better than Zaheer but Zaheer’s strike rate (60.4) is better than Ishant’s(61.1). Both have the same set of five-wicket hauls (11) in an innings and a 10 wicket haul (once) in a match. While Zaheer finished with 311 wickets in 92 matches, Ishant got his 300th in his 98th Test.

Ironically, there is never a question mark over Zaheer’s greatness with such numbers, whereas Ishant, with similar numbers, is never seen to be anywhere close to him. A former India pacer who refused to come on record told this writer that getting 300 in 177 innings is not a big deal: “He was always bowling 40 overs in a match and getting tail-enders easily.” However, many of Ishant’s former team-mates don’t agree with that harsh assessment. “If you just flip a few pages of a book, you may get a different perception. While some of the criticism over such a long journey may be partially true, if you see the whole picture, I think it will be an unfair judgment,” says former India pacer Irfan Pathan.

Numbers tell many a tale

Arguably, if you simply bifurcate the two halves of Ishant’s Test career (49 Tests in each half), he will look like two completely different bowlers. In his first 49 matches he took 138 wickets (average 38.53 and strike rate 68.98); in his next 49 matches, the Delhi pacer grabbed 162 (average 26.98 and strike Rate 54.4). However, a more nuanced approach could be to look at his journey in three phases as cricket statistician Deepu Narayanan points out beautifully with some compelling findings. Narayanan’s argument is that Ishant's successful career phases have coincided with India’s good runs in Test cricket. In his first 34 Tests till the West Indies tour of 2011, Ishant had picked up 112 wickets at 32.22 (SR 57.0). India won 21 of the 47 Tests in that period and lost just eight.

From that horrendous England tour of 2011(0-4 loss) till Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket in 2014, Ishant’s 27-Test match stint saw just 75 wickets (average of 44.89 and strike rate of 61.1). This was also the same period when India’s bowling attack witnessed many changes and Ishant's 27 Tests was the most among India’s specialist bowlers. India won only 12 of the 35 Tests in that period and lost 17.

Ishant came of age during Kohli-era

However, once Kohli took over as full-time skipper, Ishant's has looked world class. In 37 Tests since 2015, Ishant has taken 113 wickets (average of 23.93 and strike rate of 51.9) and India indisputably has been the best team in the world in this phase, winning 37 of the 61 Tests and losing just 13. “See, I’m not going to judge anyone purely on numbers since that can be misleading at times. Bowling on Indian pitches is a lot tougher and especially if you carefully see that only two pacers play at home. Considering all the points, Ishant’s achievement is no less than Zaheer’s,” argues Pathan, who has taken exactly 100 Test wickets.

So, what is the road ahead for Ishant? In all likelihood, he will take over Zaheer as the second most successful pacer from India. If he can go past the great Kapil Dev (434), Ishant may finally get his due.

“If he finishes with 400, it will be a fantastic achievement.  He has got the experience and understands his body better and now primarily plays Test cricket. With his ability, mindset and hard work, I think he should reach 400 at least,” hopes Pathan.