The veteran Indian pacer, Ishant Sharma received special mementos from the Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah on the occasion of his 100th Test match in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The lanky pacer becomes the 10th Indian player and only the second pacer after Kapil Dev to play 100 Tests when he took the field against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera on Day 1.

Team India also gave Ishant a guard of honor just before the play started in the Day-night Test against England. President Kovind performed ‘bhumi pujan’ inaugurated the newly revamped Motera Stadium ahead of the start of the Day-Night Test between India and England.

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Home Minister Amit Shah, BCCI secretary Jay Shah and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju were also present at the inauguration ceremony of the world’s largest cricket stadium.

.@ImIshant was felicitated by the Honourable President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind & Honourable Home Minister of India Shri Amit Shah before the start of play here in Ahmedabad.@rashtrapatibhvn @AmitShah pic.twitter.com/7elMWDa9ye

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 24, 2021

Ishant Sharma is the most experienced cricketer on the Indian team and is looking forward to the landmark game in Motera on February 23. He credited Zaheer Khan for teaching him good work ethics on the eve of his 100th Test as he is the 10th player from India to play 100 Test matches.

The lanky pacer is just 9 wickets away from matching Zaheer’s tally of 311 Test wickets. He made his debut for India in Dhaka against Bangladesh in 2007 and has since bagged 302 wickets in 99 Tests at 32.22.

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Talking about the same,  “I cannot say about that one thing that took my graph or brought it down. Obviously, it feels great to be playing 100 Tests, I learn a lot from Zaheer Khan, I learnt from his work ethic. I have told everyone playing in the team that if you keep on working on your fitness, the rewards will come.”