India vs West Indies: Ishant Sharma one wicket away from surpassing Kapil Dev in elite list
IND vs WI: Ishant Sharma will be eying another good show in the second Test at Jamaica following his eight-wicket outing in Antigua and the fast bowler is on verge of breaking multiple records
India fast-bowler Ishant Sharma is on the verge of adding a fresh feather into his already illustrious cap when he takes to the field against West Indies in the second and final Test of the series at the iconic Kingston Cricket Stadium in Jamaica starting Friday. India lead the series 1-0 and will look for another good performance when they lock horns against Jason Holder’s troops.
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As for Ishant, he will be eager to build upon his eight-wicket show in Antigua. Ishant is currently tied with legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev at the second spot in the list of most wickets taken by an Indian outside Asia. If he manages to take one wicket in the upcoming Test, he will become the sole second place holder in this illustrious list. Spin legend Anil Kumble tops this particular chart by some distance.
Ishant played a pivotal role in India winning the first Test by 318 runs. In the first innings of Antigua Test, the pacer scalped his ninth five-wicket haul in the longest format to break the backbone of Windies batting line-up. Later, Ishant attributed his good show to pace bowling partner Jasprit Bumrah.
“There was rain and after that the ball became wet and there was nothing happening (with the ball). So, we thought we can bowl with a cross seam. There was bounce. Actually Bumrah told me that we can try cross seam since there is nothing happening,” Ishant, who returned with figures of 5/42, said.
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“The attempt was, if you bowl out the opposition as soon as possible, it is good for your team. We tried that we were able to do that,” he told fielding coach R Sridhar who interviewed him for bcci.tv.
Jamaica Test will be Team India’s final match on the tour and they will be eager to end it on a winning note. Virat Kohli’s troops have been in sensational form against Windies, having won the T20I and ODI series 3-0 and 2-0 respectively. They will now look for similar level of performance in the final contest of the tour.
