After conceding seven runs from first four balls at the start of LSG’s batting, Ishant Sharma bowled a slower, short of driving length to KL Rahul. The batter took the bait but the speed deceived him. Rahul could just manage to clear the 30-yard circle as Mukesh Kumar ran backwards from cover point and completed a juggling catch.
In his next over, Ishant bowled a fuller delivery to Quinton de Kock. The South African tried to go over mid-on but Mukesh was again standing tall for his senior pro and this time completed the catch with much more certainty.
DC skipper Rishabh Pant persisted with Ishant in the powerplay and he started the fifth over catching Deepak Hooda plumb in front of wickets. The umpire did not hesitate to ascend his finger. Ishant celebrated with a roar as Hooda walked past him.
LSG were reduced to 44/4 within the powerplay. Impact player had made his impact evident by sending back three top-order batters with Ishant becoming the fifth bowler this season to pick three wickets inside the powerplay of a match.
Overall, he has 10 wickets from nine games at an average of 26.5 this season – seven of them have been taken during the fielding restrictions.
The veteran’s seven wickets at an average of 23.9 is third best haul in powerplays this IPL after Bhuvneshwar Kumar (10 at 21.1) and Khaleel Ahmed (8 at 34.38)
Ishant’s wickets this season include some of the biggest names including Shikhar Dhawan, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, David Miller, Virat Kohli among others.
Kohli’s dismissal was extra special for Ishant as was evident from the banter that he had with his childhood friend and former India teammate. Probably, he would be the only one to give that kind of a send-off back to Kohli.
However, what makes Ishant special is his willingness to learn new tricks and work hard on his game even at the far end of his career.
“The last few games, I have been trying to bowl a knuckle ball, but it wasn’t going very well. Rishabh was making fun that ‘you no longer have to bowl knuckle ball’. From last two games, I have been working on this new slow ball, hopefully it worked for me. In the last game I got Virat out and in this game, I got KL out,” Ishant said after winning player of the match award.
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Ishant has been like an old warhorse for DC this season whose experience has been priceless every time he has taken the new ball in his hands.
DC Assistant Coach Pravin Amre was quite vocal about Ishant’s contribution during a post-match interaction with the media on Tuesday night.
“He won player of the match today; that speaks something about him. He got three wickets in the powerplay and all were top order wickets. Again, he is the guy to have played 100 Tests, and always loves to play. He knows how to bowl on Delhi wicket also. [I am] very happy for him. Whatever the opportunities he got, he has done well for us,” Amre said.
Delhi’s pace battery has been dependent on Indian bowlers this year after Anrich Nortje’s death-over bowling became a nuisance for his own side. But they didn’t have any big names in the unit. In such a scenario, Ishant’s invaluable experience benefitted the squad.
“Indian bowlers are doing better, but I think Ishant’s contribution was more this year. He played a very important role for us in couple of matches,” Amre added.
Have we seen the last of Ishant?
While fans saw a fun-loving Ishant the other day at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, he seemed a lot more serious and stoic in Delhi. However, the 35-year-old has confirmed at the post match presentations that he is not thinking too far or too deep and taking one day at a time.
“Being a fast bowler, playing after so long, you don’t have to think so much about what’s going on. What I do is look at just one day and if my body is all right. I had a few injuries during the season as well,” Ishant says.
Fitness are a concern for the ageing Ishant and IPL 2024 could very well be the end of the road for him.
A mega auction will precede the next season and it’s difficult to predict if Ishant will continue to be part of DC or if a new team acquires his services.
However, the season will be memorable for Ishant – for that yorker to Andre Russell, for cleaning up Shikhar Dhawan, for sledging Kohli, for being stupendous in powerplays, and for ending the competition with player of the match award.
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