Home
The Kanpur Test match produced rare drama on last day India and New Zealand fought till the last ball was bowled. Records were broken on multiple fronts as Shreyas Iyer became the 16th Indian to score a hundred on debut whereas Ravichandran Ashwin got past Harbhajan Singh's tally of 417 wickets. On the other hand, Ishant Sharma though was in the news for all the wrong reasons.
The tall, lanky fast bowler completed 300 no-balls in Test cricket. Playing in his 104th Test, Ishant now holds a unique record of having picked up more than 300 wickets and bowled 300 no-balls in the red-ball format. On the fifth day of the Kanpur Test, Ishant attempted a short delivery against nightwatchman William Somerville but overstepped in doing so.
Missed feat for wicketless Ishant
The 33-year-old had a tough Test as he managed to bowl only seven overs in the second innings while he went wicketless for the entire duration of the match. In his 22 overs, the Delhi-born fast bowler was unable to trouble the New Zealand batters. On the other hand, Kiwi pacers Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson picked up 14 wickets on the same track. Had he taken at least one wicket, he would have surpassed Zaheer Khan's tally of 311 wickets to become India's fifth-highest wicket-taker in the format.
Ishant's fitness
Question marks will be raised on Ishant’s selection in the Mumbai Test. He is likely to miss the next Test if he does not regain full fitness before December 3. Prasidh Krishna or Mohammed Siraj can replace him as the second pacer in the side at Wankhede stadium.
With Virat Kohli returning to the side, few changes can be expected in the side. Apart from Ishant, Wriddhiman Saha could not keep wickets because of strain in his neck. Srikar Bharat can make his Test debut if Saha does not get fit in time. It will be interesting to see who Kohli replaces in the side as Shreyas Iyer proved his mettle with record-breaking knocks on debut.
