IND vs IRE: "I Felt A Lot More..." Ishant Sharma On His First Experience Of Indian Dressing Room

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma opened up about his maiden experience in the Indian dressing room. He said that at first, he found himself in a situation where a goat was surrounded by lions but after some time he started feeling comfortable.

Ishant Sharma is rated very highly in Indian cricket. The lanky pacer from Delhi has been an incredible servant of the Indian team as he over the years has bowled some match-winning spells, with the best ones coming in the Test at Lord’s against England in 2014 and during the Champions Trophy 2013.

Being among the bowlers to have played 100 Test matches for India, Ishant Sharma made his debut in May 2007 as a replacement for Munaf Patel against Bangladesh. He has had his ups and lows in his career but under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, he looked extremely threatening and was the leader of the attack.

Ishant Sharma while talking about his entrance into the dressing room said that he wanted to lie down at the feet of all the legends and after Zaheer Khan told him to relax, he felt comfortable.

Speaking to Jio Cinema, he elaborated: “I used to sit with Zak and watched them on TV and now suddenly sharing the room with them. I wanted to go and lie down but somehow I controlled my feeling. I couldn’t muster the courage to say a word. Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) and RP Singh were there.

“I was in a situation where a goat was surrounded by lions. Zak imagined what I was going through and told me to chill and relax. After that, I felt a lot more comfortable but I was sitting quietly in a corner.”

IND vs IRE: My toe kept hurting, but I didn’t care – Ishant Sharma on his debut match

Ishant Sharma further went on to narrate an anecdote from his debut match. He revealed that after then-captain Rahul Dravid told him that he will be making his debut, he wasn’t ready and asked Zaheer Khan for the pair of shoes.

Ishant Sharma added that his toes kept hurting but he was unfazed by that and it was overwhelming for him to play alongside the legends of the game. He added:

“Rahul Dravid told me that I have to debut tomorrow and I responded, ‘But I can’t play barefoot!’ I didn’t even practice. I asked Zak (Zaheer Khan) for a pair of size 11 shoes so I could play the match. He gave me some shoes, but my toe kept hurting, but I didn’t care.

“I don’t remember much because my mind was fixated on shoes and clothes and how I will play. But I remember the Bangladesh series where I made my Test debut. A dressing room with Paaji (Harbhajan Singh), Rahul bhai, Dada (Saurav Ganguly), Yuvi bhai (Yuvraj Singh), and Wasim bhai (Wasim Jaffer) was overwhelming.”

Ishant Sharma last played for India in 2021 against New Zealand and since then has been sidelined from the team and his place Mohammed Siraj grabbed the chances with both hands. He was also recently terminated from the BCCI’s annual contract as well.