Taking ridicule out of way, Ishant Sharma adds one more fairytale day to his late-blooming career

Taking ridicule out of way, Ishant Sharma adds one more fairytale day to his late-blooming career

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VVS Laxman’s contribution to Indian cricket is never talked about in the same vein as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Virender Sehwag, but Mohali 2010 told a story. Of course, VVS had quite a number of games to show as his finest but that remained quite a special Test for him.

A severely ailing back didn't stop him from putting a surge as he showed a tireless Ben Hilfenhaus way to commit errors on a regular basis while other Indian batsmen had made the mistake of playing one shot too many, reducing India to 76 for 5 in their pursuit of 216 for victory. With the lower-order’s cavalier attitude being the order for the major part of the millennium, or even beyond that, expecting anything other than that would have been optimistic to say the least and India were staring down the barrel to go 0-1 down in the series.

That was further confirmed after Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh took the long walk back to the pavilion, and most TV sets had already been switched off. Amidst no hope, entered a lanky guy, clueless about everything surrounding him, and started using all parts of his body for a blocking competition. The Aussies were chuckling and mocking the theatrics but Ishant knew what he was doing.

A sudden smile returned on VVS’ face and the duo, slowly and steadily, took India much closer. Although Ishant was dismissed by Hilfenhaus after a patient vigil of 92 balls, and Pragyan Ojha eventually helped VVS take India over the line, that 106-minute stay epitomised Ishant’s grit and the eagerness to grind it out when the chips were down.

 © BCCI

For the next eight years, Ishant had to suffer the joke and ridicule of "Dear single guys, if a girl gives you as many chances as Dhoni has given Ishant Sharma, marry her" or "It was Ishant Sharma's stunning form that made MS Dhoni take up bowling" came on a regular basis on Twitter. After playing 60-odd matches, when you average more than 35 with ball, you buy into that situation and nobody really pushed you there. Ishant was ridiculed and there was a clear justification for it.

However, for a change, the joke was not on Ishant in Antigua. He prodded his way through, and the only player to be dismissed by Alastair Cook in Test cricket had been as confident in his approach like Virat Kohli's swagger in an ODI run chase. Ravindra Jadeja didn’t have to think about holding up the end and could easily pace the innings in the way he wanted to. Everything seemed to have fallen in place and India reached 297 - a score that was safe enough to bat Windies out of the game.

When India bowled, the wicket had become easier to bat on and the lack of moisture on the surface gave Windies a cracking start. Flashy John Campbell smashed Ishant to smithereens and Kohli quickly brought his trump card Jasprit Bumrah into the attack. It was the best proposition at that moment but standing at fine leg, Ishant’s mind wandered and he started shadow practising for a better spell, almost out of a pace bowler's ego. He was, as if, visualising all those traits that have made Kohli a strong supporter of his work ethic. He came back, landed a full ball to Kraigg Brathwaite who went for a booming drive and Ishant picked up a blinder on his followthrough. He took five wickets of the total seven wickets fell on Day 2 and had a victory march to the dressing at the close of play. All smiles.

There was no joke this time and if anything, the Twitterverse was happy seeing the man’s transformation from a wayward commodity to a disciplined leader of the pack. "To bowl those many overs in this heat and humidity, and then to take those catches, it completely turned the game our way," Jadeja said at the press conference, being in awe of a man, whom Jadeja owes a treat for standing for 19.1 overs in order to let the Saurashtra all-rounder weave his sword celebration.

What started under Rahul Dravid back in 2007, had got some of the best days under Anil Kumble before falling apart during MS Dhoni days. However, he is now back to his best in the Kohli era while witnessing a number of transformations of Indian cricket along the way. But the five wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, and the 62-ball 19 before that was the ideal way to show his grit and in extension, a forward march of a performance that justified his spearhead tag despite the presence of one of the world’s most exciting bowlers at the moment - Jasprit Bumrah. Smiles are back, and there is no game face.

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