Ishant Sharma to join Sussex for two months this county season
Twiiter
Indian seamer Ishant Sharma will join the Sussex for a period of two months after he went unsold at last month's IPL mega-auction and is expected to report to the club by April 4. He is expected to provide cover for Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer who will be playing in the Indian Premier League.
Ishant was a part of the Indian Test squad in South Africa, where he claimed a decent eight wickets in the second Test in Centurion. However, the veteran bowler was quite surprisingly, not picked by any franchise during the mega-auction for the upcoming IPL this year. Despite the Delhi pacer's base price being lowered from 2 crores to 75 lakhs, no side seemed keen to add the experienced bowler to their ranks.
Now, as per reports from ESPNCricinfo, Ishant is set to feature for Sussex in the 2018 county season which will be played across England. The Indian seamer is expected to report to the club by April 4 following which he will be eligible to play five County Championship fixtures and eight Royal London One-Day Cup matches.
"Securing Ishant's services has been very important for us. Once Jofra and Chris were picked up in the IPL draft, it became crucial to sign an experienced international-quality seam bowler who could provide valuable support and know-how to the rest of the seamers," Sussex's director of cricket Keith Greenfield said.
"Ishant has the attributes to be very successful in early season English conditions and a great role model. He fits the bill perfectly and we look forward to welcoming him to Sussex Cricket," Keith added.
With India scheduled to play a five-match Test series in England in the second half of 2018, Sharma will have an ideal opportunity to get used to the conditions and familiarise himself with the Dukes ball. Sharma is no stranger to British conditions though, as he had previously toured with India's Test squad during 2011 and 2014. He was adjudged the 'Man of the Match' for his Test-best figures of 7 for 74 in the second innings as India won at Lord's. The Indian seamer had also played in the 2009 World T20 tournament and 2013 Champions Trophy teams.
"It's a great honour to represent Sussex CCC, the oldest first-class county, and I am looking forward with excitement to my maiden stint in county cricket," Ishant said in a club press release.
Ishant will be the third Indian cricketer to play for the Sussex team (the first was MAK Pataudi and Piyush Chawla). He will join Cheteshwar Pujara for the 2018 season after the batsman was also overlooked in the IPL auction in bangalore last month.
