IND vs NZ | All credit goes to NCA support staff for my recovery from ankle injury, asserts Ishant Sharma

Not only did he make himself available for the first Test at the Basin Reserve, he was the pick of the bowlers for the Indian team, dismissing the first three Kiwi wickets with a menacing spell of pace bowling. That performance surely made Ishant proud and he thanked the NCA support staff for putting in a shift to ensure his speedy recovery.

"I didn't have any target that I have to play a Test. I thought 'okay, if it's possible to play, I will play but if it's not, there's hardly anything I could have done'. Because the way I got injured, I don't think it had happened with anyone. But if you are destined to get injured, you can slip in toilet too," Ishant said in the press conference, reported Times of India.

Ishant was made it sweat it out at the NCA, even bowling the maximum potential that he could, even though he was returning from an injury. After not fielding him in the warm-up game, the Indian team management kept a clear look at his bowling and fitness level in the nets, which convinced them about the veteran pacer's fitness. Ishant revealed that he had bowled 21 overs at the NCA before taking the final call of flying to New Zealand.