The veteran Indian spinner, R Ashwin feels that the work ethics of Ishant Sharma are exemplary over the last 14 years and he reckons that wished that his teammate take 400 wickets in Test cricket and set a benchmark for the emerging fast bowlers of India. Ishant, the most-capped Test cricketer in the Indian team, on Monday, became the third Indian pacer after Kapil Dev (434 wickets) and Zaheer Khan (311) to reach the landmark of 300 wickets.

Talking about Ishant, R Ashwin said, “Look, Ishant has been one of the most hard-working cricketers that I have seen in that Indian team dressing room. He has worked extremely hard, for more than just one reason, because being that tall (6 ft 4 inch) itself requires a lot of facets to be managed through a career which is spanned out through almost 14 years now.”

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Ishant is will be required to play 100 Test matches and will only be the second Indian pacer to achieve that coveted landmark. For Ashwin, that itself is a measure of his achievement.

Explaining it further, Ashwin said, “Ishant has gone through so many other tours, had his fair share of injuries. For a fast bowler to get close to 100 Tests in India is not a joke and it is a fantastic achievement. I can keep going on and keep complimenting Ishant, but I really wish to see him get to 400 and probably 500 wickets, which should be sort of road map for a lot of Indian quicks going forward.”

When asked about the reason which makes Ishant special as a person, R Ashwin opined that the lanky pacer’s smile is a huge plus as the latter has the habit of keep smiling even when he is tied. 

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Describing the same, Ashwin elaborated, “Today, I jokingly told him that you won’t get a bowl. He (Ishant) said that’s ok because he was really tired. He is a man with a funny streak.”