The curious case of Ishant Sharma

Will Ishant Sharma ever fulfil his potential?

There hasn’t been any cricketer who has received as much flake as this lanky pacer from Delhi in recent times. All the satire columns and blogs are filling up with articles aimed at Sharma, that he seems to enjoy the kind of popularity Sir Ravindra Jadeja garnered last year

Thankfully, Jadeja has risen above all that criticism with his bowling. It’s time Ishant Sharma restored the faith that the selectors have bestowed upon his talent. Interestingly, Ishant can be considered a veteran bowler in the current team since he seems to be the most experienced of all the bowlers, but what’s even more interesting is the fact is that over the years this talent has faded away and has been happy to take the back-seat for the Kumar’s and Shami’s.

A lot of bowlers have come and gone in the past 7 years since his debut, but he hasn’t risen above the initial buzz he created in the international arena.

Having played 53 test matches at the highest level, and with 149 scalps to his credit, his skill can never be questioned. Who can ever forget the fiery Ponting-Ishant duel down under in 2008. The whole country has been waiting for Sharma’s coming of age, and unfortunately that is yet to happen.

The word in the air is that there are no better fast bowlers in the country than Ishant at the moment, if that is to be believed then it doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Time and again, Ishant has been recalled by the selectors and the fact that none of the bowlers who came in place of him has proved much adds to the woes.

Is there a serious shortage of good fiery paced genuine pacers in the country? Or are the selectors scared of going for the trial-and -error method of giving other pacers a chance? In the run up to the World Cup it is essential that Ishant finds his form back and is fit for action.

Another interesting point to note is that none of the bowlers from the 2011 WC final seem to be anywhere near the equation. Ashish Nehra has never been heard of since, Zaheer Khan is a pale reminder of his glorious days, and we all know what happened to Sreesanth, and is Munaf playing anymore?

Funny that a player of Ishant’s talent and stature , with 72 ODIs has failed to garner atleast a singe 5-fers in his career, not that personal records are anything big to boast about, but even then someone who has been given a long rope is expected to prove a lot more than that.

While Ishant enjoys his best figures and statistics in Australia (avg: 20.42 and econ: 4.60), selectors might overlook that fact when they sit down to select the final group for the World Cup next year. His extended run might be cut short if any of the other bowlers find their rhythm when selected ahead of him.

Ishwar Pandey, Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav would be looking forward to prove their mettle if given the chance. A lot of unforgettable matches in the recent past seems to have an overwhelming impact on Ishant’s confidence which has taken a serious hit, and the jokes on him are not helping either.With so many series aboard this calendar year, Ishant would be looking to redeem the misfortunes and let’s hope this talent does not go like some of the others he opened the bowling with.