As India and England kicked off the 3rd Test match on Wednesday, fast bowler Ishant Sharma was felicitated with a memento by President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Minister Amit Shah before the match for his 100th Test match.
Ishant Sharma became the 10th player from India and only the second pacer after Kapil Dev to play 100 Tests when he took the field against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Day 1.
The BCCI shared a video of the felicitation ceremony on its Twitter handle.
Sharma was also given a guard of honour just before the beginning of Pink-ball battle.
Ishant, who recently crossed the 300 wickets mark in the last Test against England, credited Zaheer Khan for teaching him good work ethics on the eve of his 100th Test. He is just nine wickets away from matching Zaheer's tally of 311 Test wickets.
"If your career is 14 years long and you are still playing, you cannot name just one highlight. It is difficult to pinpoint just one highlight, every sportsperson has the graph going up and down," Ishant told reporters.
Sharma is one of the most experienced current cricketers in the Indian Test squad.
Meanwhile, President Kovind also inaugurated the Narendra Modi stadium before the start of the Day-Night Test between India and England.
The inaugural event was also attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, BCCI secretary Jay Shah and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. Home Minister Amit Shah has even brought up the possibility of India hosting the Olympics.