ICC World Test Championship: 3 Most Memorable Spells By Ishant Sharma

The Indian tall speedster Ishant Sharma has really worked on his line and lengths and it has yielded him the best results in the last three years in the longest format. He is one among the destructive bowling trio of the Indian pace attack alongside Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah and he is far more experienced than the other two.

Ishant has evolved as an excellent new-ball bowler in tests and he has been bowling the big inswingers too. He has been very consistent with his lengths not giving the batsman any free deliveries to take advantage and has picked up 36 wickets in 11 tests which is the most by any Indian pacer in the ICC World Test Championship. Here are the 3 most memorable spells by Ishant Sharma in the tournament.

3 Most Memorable Spells By Ishant Sharma:

Ishant’s 5 for 68 Against New Zealand, Wellington 2020

The Indian team had to be at their very best to beat the New Zealand team in their own backyard and having won the toss, the hosts had decided to bowl first. India was bundled out for 165 in the first innings and the bowlers needed to come up with something special. Ishant Sharma did a fine job when the other bowlers failed.

He picked up five wickets for 68 runs in his fiery spell but couldn’t stop New Zealand from taking a lead of 117 runs in their first innings and it was enough for them to win the game easily. India could manage to set a target of only 9 runs and New Zealand took a lead of 1-0 in the two-match Test series.

Ishant’s 5 for 43 Against West Indies, Antigua 2019

The first team of the two-match test series in West Indies started with the hosts winning the toss and opting to bowl first. India scored 297 in the first innings and the bowlers needed to get the upper hand. Ishant bowled an excellent spell of five wickets for 43 runs and he restricted West Indies to 222.

Ishant continued his rich form into the second innings too picking up three wickets and it helped India take the lead in the series by a massive 318 runs in the first test. It was a great moment for the Indian fans as they were dominating in the overseas conditions too which wasn’t easy in the past.

Ishant’s 5 for 22 Against Bangladesh, Kolkata 2019

This was the best spell for Ishant Sharma in the ICC World Test Championship as he created havoc among the Bangladesh batting lineup. The second test against Bangladesh at home saw Bangladesh winning the toss and electing to bat first and Ishant was the first Indian bowler to pick up a fifer in the pink ball test.

He finished with four wickets in the second innings and his 9 wickets in the match earned him the man of the match award. He also bagged the man of the series award for his excellence throughout the series and it showed that the Indian bowling attack was firing at all cylinders.