The veteran Indian pacer, Ishant Sharma will be playing his 100th Test when the Indian team will be lock horns with England in the third Test at the Motera Stadium from Wednesday. Ishant’s teammates congratulated him for reaching the milestone and reminisced the memories they have shared with the premier pacer. If the Indian skipper Virat Kohli recalled the early memories with the pacer and their friendship, opening batsman Rohit Sharma termed Ishant as the one on whom the team banks on during tough times.
In a video posted on BCCI’s official website, Virat Kohli said, “I remember a tall lanky guy coming to the nets and trials. He pitched the ball in right areas and caused a lot of trouble to the batsmen and the selectors were immediately impressed.”
Journey to 💯th Test 👌
Off-field memories 👍
Bonding with teammates 🙌As @ImIshant is set to play his 100th Test at Motera, #TeamIndia congratulate the pacer & reminisce memories shared with him 👏👏 – by @RajalArora.@Paytm #INDvENG
Full feature 🎥 👉 https://t.co/bhvwfpUaUP pic.twitter.com/V0xKU6HkGM
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 23, 2021
Virat also added, “He then started playing for the state team from that season onwards and we have been room partners since then. And we have been close friends ever since we started playing together. So Ishant playing 100 Tests is equally a happy moment for me. I wish him all the best.”
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On the other hand, talking about Ishant Sharma, Rohit said, “Big big congratulations on making it to the 100 Test match. It’s never easy for any cricketer. He has seen some tough times as well on the field but he has never given up. The Hall Mark of his entire career put into one shell this what is Ishant Sharma all about. He has reached a stage that we rely on him.”
Cheteshwar Pujara recalled a time when Ishant was left frustrated after Pujara was given not out on the pacer’s bowling in a match.
Pujra recalled, “Whenever Ishant is around, the dressing room atmosphere is always lively. He likes to talk with people around him. I have played against him many times and he has got me out once or twice. There were times when I wasn’t given out and he was frustrated.”
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Seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said Ishant deserved to play 100 Test matches s while recalling the times when the pacer troubled the former Australia skipper. He said, “My first memory of Ishant has been the dismissal of Ricky Ponting. The way he was running with the big inswingers. All those fast bowlers who are watching must realize that Ishant is one of the most hard-working cricketers, and has made himself eligible to get to this point in the era of T20Is.”
