The first Test against England might have ended in a 31-run defeat for India but there were still plenty of positives to take for Virat Kohli’s men.
Among them was pacer Ishant Sharma’s magnificent performance in the second innings.
The 29-year-old picked up his eighth five-wicket haul in Test cricket, with his figures of 5-51 helping India bowl out the hosts for 183 in their second dig.
In the end, Ishant was reprimanded for his send-off to Dawid Malan and docked 15 per cent of his match fees along with being awarded a demerit point for his misdemeanour.
For so long in his 83-match Test career, Ishant has been known as an ‘unlucky’ bowler who can bowl some devastating spells without picking up a wicket.
At Edgbaston, his perseverance was rewarded in the form of six wickets overall and the India pacer could not be more happy.
“Actually, I got tired of the tag. I am bowling well but my wicket column has always not been very good. It feels very good because I put in a lot of work. Playing for your country and taking five wickets, that too in the second innings, feels nice,” the pacer stated.
Ishant Sharma enjoyed a fruitful stint with Sussex earlier in the summer.
The Delhi man has credited his stint with county outfit Sussex this summer – after he missed out on an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract – as a key reason for his Edgbaston display.
“Playing County made a huge difference. In a way, I was disappointed (not playing IPL 2018), but it was good for me. I played for Sussex and bowled with the Dukes ball. One good thing was although I only played four matches, there were overs behind me, I bowled around 150-200 overs. I played one-dayers also, so the experience was really good,” Ishant explained.
Ishant’s five-wicket haul at Edgbaston was his seventh such instance in overseas Tests for India. He will now be hoping to repeat his 2014 heroics at Lord’s as the ‘home of cricket’ gets ready to host the second Test between England and India starting August 9.
Ishant’s best-ever Test figures of 7-74 had come at Lord’s in the tour of 2014 as India scripted a historic 95-run win.
