The ongoing IPL 2023 could very well become the season of the oldies. A number of Indian veterans have been dishing out impressive performances in what has been a pleasant surprise. Piyush Chawla, Amit Mishra, Mohit Sharma, and Ishant Sharma are in the twilight of their playing careers but have seemingly turned back the clock.
Of the names mentioned, Ishant boasts of a much more accomplished, perhaps incomparable, career graph than the others. He announced himself famously by setting up the great Ricky Ponting at WACA aged 19 in 2007-08. Lanky, the ability to bowl in the 140kphs, generating movement – on and off the pitch, will, and strength to deliver long spells. All the right attributes were there to chart a successful career.
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Ishant went on to achieve the rare feat of playing 100 Tests. Only 12 others from his country have done so, including the great Sachin Tendulkar. Four of them were bowlers. Two of them are fast bowlers. One of these was an all-rounder. Ishant is the only specialist fast bowler from his country to have touched the milestone.
The number of Tests alone would have you believe that Ishant lived up to the promise. However, if you’ve followed his career, it would be clear as day how he had to reinvent himself many times to make sure the journey continued.
Ishant clocked 105 Tests, 80 ODIs, and 14 T20Is in a span of 14 years. His last Test back in 2021, before the rise of Mohammed Siraj, all but shut the doors on him as far as his international career is concerned.
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At 34, it’s unlikely that the Indian team management will turn to Ishant anytime soon barring an emergency. To be fair, a recall would need performances, and he hasn’t been setting the domestic circuit on fire either. How can he? He hasn’t been playing enough cricket to be able to make an impact. In the last two Ranji Trophy seasons, he has played a grand total of three matches before being sidelined by injuries.
In the ongoing IPL 2023, though, Ishant has been making all the right noises.
He was branded a red-ball specialist all those years back, resulting in him losing his place in India’s limited-overs teams, but to be fair, it helped him play 105 Tests (considering he was able to remain relatively injury-free).
However, for Delhi Capitals, he has churned out a couple of match-winning performances despite having played just four matches thus far. He has been effective in the Powerplay and then in the death-overs too.
Ishant put on a show against Gujarat Titans where the old fox outmanoeuvred his younger opponents. Vijay Shankar was the first to fall to his tricks – a knuckleball, which has been branded the best ever by Dale Steyn, saw the in-form GT batter being deceived into going for a flick only to see the ball sneak past and crash onto the stumps.
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The champagne moment though came later.
With Rahul Tewatia blasting three sixes in a row against the fiery pace of Anrich Nortje, a late GT comeback seemed inevitable.
Enter Ishant.
As he would later explain, he double-bluffed Tewatia by setting the field for a full and wide yorker but then dropped a slower, length delivery. Tewatia miscued and ended up being caught at extra cover. DC went on to win by five runs against the table-toppers.
And let’s not forget how Ishant produced a player-of-the-match performance in his first game of the season to help DC beat Kolkata Knight Riders and end their miserable start to the season.
DC bowling coach James Hopes lets out a smile the moment one mentions how impressive Ishant has been.
Shedding some light on how the senior bowler has been preparing for the matches and why he’s been impressive, Hopes explained that Ishant understands his role and is quite focused on the work he needs to put in during the training sessions.
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“Ishant is preparing like any senior fast bowler would,” Hopes responded to a CricketNext query during a pre-match interaction with the media. “He makes sure to be physically ready for the game. He has played a lot of cricket in his life, so in actual training sessions, he’s very focused on what he needs to do during the game, and that’s it. He’s not here hours on end. He bowls a few overs and gets ready to go the next day and turns up with a performance. He’s been really good for us this year. It’s been nice having a senior head on the field with our bowling attack.”
After going unsold at the mega auction, Ishant was picked by DC at his base price of Rs 50 lakh. He then had to watch from the dugout as his team crashed to five defeats in a row at the start of the season.
Ishant was summoned for the home game against KKR, and he delivered with figures of 2/19, which included the scalps of Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine. In the next match, he took 1/18 from three overs, including the wicket of Rahul Tripathi. In the return fixture against SRH, he struck early to send back Mayank Agarwal on 5.
“It was the first time we put them (Ishant and Khaleel) in the same attack the other night (vs GT). It’s important to have new ball bowlers that can generate movement. And those two do. So I’m really happy,” Hopes added.
And he thinks Ishant isn’t done yet.
“I think he’s got more years left in the IPL,” the Australian said.
DC would only hope their workhorse continues to deliver.
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