Veteran Indian pacer Ishant Sharma added another feather to his illustrious hat by dismissing Daniel Lawrence in the third innings of the first Test against England. With this scalp, the right-arm speedster became only just the sixth Indian bowler and third Indian pacer to take 300 wickets in Test cricket. Ishant was over the moon as he had to toil hard to achieve the feat. The Chennai track has been a paradise for batsmen, but the 32-year-old bowled with hostility and eventually got awarded. He took two crucial wickets in England’s first innings before getting the milestone on Day 4. Meanwhile, the other Indians to take 300 or more Test wickets are Anil Kumble (619), Harbhajan Singh (417), Kapil Dev (434), Ravi Ashwin (382) and Zaheer Khan (311). India vs England Score Updates 1st Test 2021 Day 4.
Making his Test debut way back in May 2007, Ishant has been a vital part of India’s pace attack in the longest format of the game. He burst onto the scenes with his raw pace, which even tormented Australian legend, Ricky Ponting. However, the pacer was accused of not delivering consistently, and his wicket-taking abilities have also been under the scanner. In fact, Ishant, playing his 99th Test, is the slowest to get the milestone. Washington Sundar Joins Sourav Ganguly & Suresh Raina in Unique List After Scoring Unbeaten Half-Century.
However, one must not forget that the pacer has played most of Test matches in the spin-friendly conditions of India. With Ishant being just 32, a lot of cricket is still left in him, and it will be interesting to see what more he can achieve by the end of his career.
Coming to the Chennai Test, England are well set on the driver’s seat after earning a substantial 241-run lead. With the track deteriorating with time, the Three Lions would like to set a daunting target before declaring the innings. As far as India are concerned, they need to take the remaining wickets as soon as possible to stay alive in the contest.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 08, 2021 01:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).