At the Sydney Cricket Ground in the first week of last month, after being slammed for two successive authoritative boundaries, Brett Lee walked up to the batsman and asked him, "What do you think you are? A cowboy?" A flabbergasted Ishant Sharma asked his batting partner what a 'cowboy' was. "Never mind, just focus on your batting," Sachin Tendulkar told him, between guffaws.
It's a sign of his growing confidence that, in a little over five weeks since, the 19-year-old from Delhi is able to give back as good as he gets. That confidence has come about not because his English vocabulary has improved, but from the fact that he has gone from a relative unknown to one of the most exciting quick bowling talents in international cricket.
Australia have taken Ishant to heart. His gangling, awkward frame, that easily identifiable mop of long hair and a prominent, bobbing Adam's apple have helped, but they are no more than complementary props to his exceptional bowling all tour long. And to think that Ishant would almost certainly not have figured in the Indian Test eleven if Zaheer Khan hadn't returned home after the first Test with a heel injury!
Before he left for Bangalore at the conclusion of the Test series, Anil Kumble labelled him the 'find of the tour.' Ricky Ponting, somewhat of an Ishant bunny now, calls him 'dangerous and difficult.' It's hard to believe that no more than two and a quarter months back, Ishant Sharma was but a bit player, talented but on the fringes, biding his time and hoping for a stage to showcase his abilities.
That opportunity came in Bangalore, in the final Test against Pakistan in early December. Injuries to Zaheer, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth forced the selectors to call Ishant up for the first time since an uneventful debut in Mirpur in May. The response was stunning -- a maiden five-for on a track dead as a dodo, an effort marked by stamina, speed, accuracy and, most importantly, a big heart.
It's the heart, as much as his incredible sustained hostile bowling, that has caught the imagination on this tour. The first time the spotlight was trained on Ishant was also at the SCG, on day one of the New Year's Test. Having troubled Andrew Symonds, Ishant was finally rewarded when he found a huge chunk of the outside edge for a regulation caught behind. To the horror of everyone at the ground, Steve Bucknor abruptly ended Indian celebrations by turning the appeal down, thereby turning the Sydney Test on its head.
From delight, Ishant was brought crashing down to earth. He screamed in disbelief, held his head in his hands, looking as if his world had come to an end. It took an eternity before he came to terms with the fact that next ball, Symonds would continue to be the batsman he had to try to dismiss -- again. The most battle-hardened would have found that a bitter pill to swallow; Ishant is 19, was playing his third Test, and was on his first overseas tour with the Indian team.
That could have been the moment that could have broken the teenager; instead, in a stirring turnaround, he fed off that disappointment, using it as a springboard to catapult himself into fame with one brilliant performance after another. He is the leader of the pack now, and there can be no greater compliment for one so young and inexperienced.
The spell that emphatically pitchforked Ishant to the forefront came on the fourth day of the WACA Test, as Australia set out in chase of 413 for a series-clinching victory. In nine sensational overs, Ishant put Ponting through the wringer. For more than an over and a quarter, the Australian captain was made to look like a novice as Ishant chipped away with sustained pace, tremendous control and great variety. Reward came right at the end as Ponting could take the punishment no more.
Ishant's strength is his ability to bring the ball in to the right-handers; through this tour, with bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad a wonderful mentor, Ishant has added the one that straightens to his armoury, the element of doubt created in the minds of the batsman adding to his potency.
Still some way short of being the complete package -- he has some filling up to do physically, and is far from a finished product as a bowler -- Ishant is already a handful and more.
His pace has increased as have the work hours on this tour. His ability to bowl long spells without so much as flagging has encouraged both Kumble and one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to turn to him at the first hint of crisis, and Ishant has responded admirably to each urging.
It might appear a little over the board to highlight the performances of someone who has taken no more than 12 wickets in Tests and one-dayers together this tour. Apart from the fact that every one of those scalps was well earned, there is also the little matter of how he has generated interest and triggered excitement every time he has been handed over the ball.
"There is something about his action -- maybe he doesn't always get it perfect -- that allows him to procure inconsistent bounce," Ponting said the other day. "He is also a bit different in that while most bowlers take the ball away from right-handers, he keeps bringing it in. He is a big find for India." This, from a batsman who was on top of the world when India arrived in Australia in mid-December! How's that for praise?!
Exciting as Ishant's meteoric rise is, it is essential that he is handled with care. The temptation to bowl him to the ground has to be weighed against his value as a present and future match-winner. The management of his workload isn't an issue now -- he is hungry! -- but in due course, he must be given the breaks so essential to recover from the rigours of non-stop matchplay.
Is Ishant Sharma here to stay? It would appear so, premature as it might sound. Feet on the ground and a song in the heart should take care of that.
