Ishant Sharma has been plagued by fitness issues for the last one year. The Delhi pacer missed the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch after suffering an ankle injury while in IPL 2020, he suffered an abdominal muscle tear which forced him to play just one game and miss the entire tournament for the Delhi Capitals. There were doubts as to whether Ishant Sharma would be fit for the four-Test series against Australia starting in December. However, there might be good news for Indian cricket fans as Ishant Sharma had a lengthy bowling session at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, Ishant Sharma went through two long bowling spells and the entire session lasted for two hours. On one of the side pitches at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, Ishant Sharma had one spell which lasted for 45 minutes and another which lasted more than an hour. Sunil Joshi, the chairman of selectors and NCA head Rahul Dravid were in attendance and monitoring Ishant Sharma’s progress while Paras Mhambrey, the Under-19 head coach was supervising Ishant’s bowling and was in discussion with him.
Ishant Sharma bowls at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru as he looks to prove his fitness for India's Test series against Australia. pic.twitter.com/jfwGCY3ag2
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 18, 2020
Following his injury in IPL 2020 which cut short his stint in the tournament, Ishant Sharma has been working with Mhambrey for the last one month as he looked to recover and get ready for the tour of Australia at the NCA. In the session, Ishant Sharma got the ball to swing, got the occasional delivery to bounce a bit extra and also bowled at good pace which was observed by Paras Mhambrey.
The ESPNCricinfo report further stated that the NCA had communicated to the BCCI that Ishant would be ready to start bowling from November 18 and that he needed to prove his match fitness. Should be passed fit, Ishant will travel separately to join the Indian cricket team who are currently based in Sydney. India will play two practice games in Sydney on December 6-8 and December 11-13) before travelling to Adelaide for the Pink Ball Test. This will be India's first day-night Test overseas.
Ishant Sharma is currently three matches short of becoming only the second Indian fast bowler to play 100 Test matches after Kapil Dev. The right-arm pacer made an impression during the tour of Australia in 2008 and it will be fitting that Ishant plays his 100th Test in Australia.