"Will keep on bowling till the time I am fit"- Ishant Sharma tells R Ashwin
Experienced Indian pacer Ishant Sharma stated that he doesn’t have a particular number in mind with regards to how many Tests he wants to play or the number of wickets he hopes to finish with.
Ishant Sharma is only the third India pacer to take 300 Test wickets after Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan, and is all set to play his 100th Test.
In a YouTube interaction with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma was asked if he is inspired by Jimmy Anderson and if he has set himself a target of 600 Test wickets. The tall Indian pacer responded:
“Ash (Ashwin) look, it’s all about fitness. I don’t really think about what is going to happen in four years’ time or six years’ time. I will keep on bowling till the time I am fit. I don’t really think about numbers.”
Narrating an interesting story about the path to his 100th Test, Ishant Sharma revealed:
“When I crossed 95 Tests, people started coming and telling me ‘five to go’ (for 100 Tests), then ‘four to go’ and so on. Then I suffered so many injuries that I stopped counting. I started playing one Test match at a time and that’s better for me. So I don’t really think about whether I have to play 100 Test matches or if I have to play for four more years for the country.”
After surgery, your body changes totally: Ishant Sharma recalls tough times
Before going on to become India’s pace spearhead, Ishant Sharma faced a lengthy battle with form and injury. He underwent an ankle surgery in 2012 which kept him out of the game for a few months, and struggled for rhythm when he returned.
Explaining how he overcame the tough times, the 32-year-old said:
“After my surgery in 2012, I thought I don’t need to bowl much as I must protect myself. Later though I realized that, after surgery, your body changes totally. You don’t even know about that. You are rusty. Imagine that you are not bowling for six months. You’re not training, not even running. After that, when I started bowling again, I did it like I used to do when I was 17-18 years old. I used to bowl from 1 pm till sunset to get my rhythm back.”
Ishant Sharma will play his landmark 100th Test when India take on England in the pink-ball Test, starting Wednesday at the Motera Stadium. The four-match series is tied 1-1.