'I was asked if Headingley Test was Ishant Sharma's last for India. I was very surprised': Ashish Nehra

Former India pacer Ashish Nehra was surprised by the criticism of Ishant Sharma after just one below-par match against England at Headingley in Leeds. Ishant was the only India bowler to go wicketless in the third Test match, which England won by an innings and 76 runs to level the series.

The veteran Indian seamer was not at his best, bowling 22 overs for 92 runs at an economy rate of 4.18 - the worst among all five Indian bowlers in Headingley. Although captain Virat Kohli and teammate Mohammed Shami assured that there was nothing wrong with Ishant’s fitness but the lanky seamer’s gingerly run-up and multiple no-balls told a different story.

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Nehra, however, said he was surprised that people started to ask if it was Ishant’s last Test for India. “It will be too harsh on Ishant Sharma if we judge and discuss his place in the side after just one Test match. Somebody asked me yesterday, was Headingley Test Ishant Sharma’s last? I was very surprised that somebody even asked me that question,” Nehra said during a select media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network ahead of the fourth Test match at The Oval starting on Thursday.

Nehra, who has represented India in 17 Tests, 120 Tests and 27 T20Is, added that one shouldn’t question Ishant Sharma’s place in the side after one bad game.

“You can’t judge someone like an Ishant Sharma on one game performance. Yes, we have good four-five bowlers and there is a competition there but you don’t want to see a different bowler in every Test match,” he added.

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Further explaining his point, the former India left-arm seamer said India did not lose the Headingley Test because of Ishant Sharma. Nehra agreed that Ishant was not at his best but added that someone of his experience can turn things around easily.

“Ishant is someone who bowls a no-ball here and there so do Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. Yes, according to me, Ishant Sharma wasn’t looking in the best of the rhythms. We lost that test match so we are discussing that more. Ishant’s rhythm was not the reason we lost it. But don’t forget he missed the first game because of a niggle. In the second, it took him a while but because of experience of playing more than 100 Tests, he got back to his groove quickly and had a good Lord’s Test,” Nehra added.

When asked whether Ishant might be replaced in the fourth Test, Nehra said it will be a toss-up between him and Mohammed Siraj as off-spinner R Ashwin is likely to get a game on Thursday.

“Because of conditions in Oval, we might Ashwin get a game in place of a fast bowler, whether it is in place of Ishant or Siraj, only time will tell,” Nehra said.

The five-match series is currently locked at 1-1 and both sides would be eager to take the lead by winning the fourth Test.

(Watch the 4th test of India tour of England, LIVE from 3:30 pm IST on SONY SIX channels from 2nd to 6th September 2021)