He asked me ‘Thakega toh nahi?’…I insed. If I get tired, carry me out on a stretcher: Ishant Sharma reveals exchange with MS Dhoni during the Lord’s spell
Ishant Sharma is one of the only two pacers to have played 100 Test matches for India. During the course of which, he has picked 311 wickets and bowled plenty of match winning spells.
But of all those, the six feet four inch tall pacer remembers one fondly. In 2014, during the five Test match series in England, Ishant delivered a match winning spell of 7/74 in the second innings at Lord’s, guiding India to their first win at the venue since 1986.
The 34-year-old has recently revealed the conversation that he had with the Indian captain MS Dhoni during the same.
“I have many favourite spells, especially the one I bowled at Lord’s,” he told Cricbuzz. “When Moeen Ali got out before lunch, Mahi bhai came to me. Actually, I would tell you what happened before. We were heading towards the dressing room when Mahi bhai told me to keep it normal. If nothing works, then we’ll go back to bowling bouncers. I said fine. He asked me ‘Thakega toh nahi?’ (You won’t get tired?) I said I will bowl as long as you want me to. I will bowl till the match doesn’t get over. He too got charged up.”
He further added, “Then we went inside the dressing room. Duncan, Mahi bhai and I were sitting and talking. Then Duncan and Mahi bhai he asked me ‘Will you bowl again?’ I said I bowl till the game. He again said ‘But no, you are human. You will get tired’. I insed, no. If I get tired, carry me out on a stretcher. I won’t walk back till the game doesn’t end. So hearing it he too felt how long can he bowl bouncers. Fine, his motivation and adrenaline are high right now. But how long can he go till? So I kept bowling. Well, it’s a different thing that I got injured.”
Post match, Dhoni went all gaga over the player of the match, “That last over before lunch, Ishant didn’t really want to bowl short, I was like, ‘you have to bowl it,’ I turned the other way round. He got his wicket and then it gave him the confidence to keep bowling short, keep attacking the batsman. I think it was a fantastic performance.”
Even though India lost the series 3-1, the win at Lord’s is looked at as one of their finest in the longest format.
