Ishant Sharma debuted in 2007 and has played 105 Tests, 80 ODIs, and 14 T20Is. The 34-year-old, who last played for India in 2021, has 434 wickets for the Men in Blue.
Ishant Sharma, an Indian cricketer, revealed how he broke down practically daily over six terrible deliveries that ended his white-ball career.
Ishant Sharma has done wonderful things for Indian cricket. Ishant was a specialist bowler for India in tests till 2021 and has 105 test caps. His heroic over to torment and dismiss Ricky Ponting in a Test match in 2008 as a 19-year-old is still fresh in memory.
But, the Delhi star recently revealed an incident that impacted his mental health for nearly a month. Ishant told Cricbuzz about “the lowest period of his playing career” in a recent interview. He also thanked his wife Pratima Singh, who plays a sport I sobbed for a month, for her support: Ishant Sharma recalls bad career phase
My worst match was against Australia in Mohali in 2013. I don’t know whether I’ve ever had a worse moment. I found it difficult. I didn’t give away many runs. I was responsible for the team’s loss, which hurt the most. I was dating my wife at the time and merely spoke to her. I guess I cried for over a month. The 34-year-old added on Cricbuzz’s “Rise of New India” show, “I used to call her everyday and scream over the phone claiming that team lost due of me.”
The tall, lanky speed bowler was referring to James Faulkner’s 30-run over against Ishant in the 2013 ODI against Australia in Mohali. That single over turned the game around as Australia won.
Ishant remembered feeling absolutely adrift at that moment. He felt terrible guilt about that 30-run over every day. He cried often over that minor moment, which had a huge impact on his mental health. He regretted that he could have created a name for himself in white-ball cricket had he not bowled that disastrous over that cost India the match.
However, he stated that his then-teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Shikhar Dhawan were really helpful in dragging him out of the depression and motivating him to recover. But, that awful over caused people to view him as unsuitable for limited-overs cricket, jeopardising his white-ball career.
“The wonderful thing that happened was Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) came to my room and Shikhar (Dhawan), who was playing that game, also came and said, ‘Look you have been doing well (Dekh, tu acha khel raha hai).’ “That one match made me look like a red-ball bowler,” Ishant added.
