Sorry for Ishant and Test cricket

India’s Ishant Sharma celebrates the wicket of Australia’s Peter Handscomb during Day Three of the Perth Test on December 16, 2018. Pic/Getty Images

That the third India v England Test at Ahmedabad concluded inside two days on a much-vilified surface and due to supposedly poor cricket by the visiting England team's batsmen, were not the only aspects which led to the Motera Test going down as one of the most bizarre ones in Test match history.

It was also an extraordinary one for Ishant Sharma, who became only the second Indian fast bowler to play 100 Tests for his country after Kapil Dev.

Ishant celebrated his first wicket of the Test by getting opener Dom Sibley edging one to Rohit at second slip in the third over of the day.

He was required to bowl only five overs in the innings and there was nothing more for his bowling arm to do in the remainder of the Test as Ravichandran Ashwin and local lad Axar Patel held sway.

There have been several supporters for the surface that was rolled out for the pink-ball Test; many contrary opinions slapped down. But that a fast bowler of Ishant's experience, exuberance and endurance was required for just five overs in his 100th Test, is nothing but a tattered advertisement hoarding for Test cricket.

Remember, this is the very format of the game which the purists of the world seem to be keen on saving. This is the same format which we hear cricketers say they want to excel in and be known for when the final full stop of their careers is inscribed.

No, the ball didn't turn square. No, there were no injuries due to the surface. But Ahmedabad did nothing for Test cricket to glow.

There should have been better reasons for us to remember Ishant's 100th Test. Sure, he has not been the most consistent of fast bowlers. Indeed, he could have reached his milestone a few years before it happened, but he has been a warrior in his own way; rediscovering himself supremely in the last four years.

From Ashwin's YouTube interaction with him emerged a story about how he went up to his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said that he wouldn't take any more injections for his bad knee to last out the 2014-15 Melbourne Test without knowing that it was the last time he was on a Test match field with the inspirational leader.

It reminded us of the pain Ishant had endured to go his distance, to stay in the game, to still be pivotal to India a good seven years after he made his first tour to Australia in 2007-08.

Fast bowlers are big heroes in the willow game and Ishant's Melbourne recollection caused me to think more about their heroic deeds over the years.

In the Melbourne Test of the 1932-33 Bodyline series, England's Harold Larwood refused to return to the dressing room for a change of boots because he feared the crowd booing him for yet another return.

The boots borrowed from teammate George Duckworth [who had to leave the ground to repair Larwood's original pair] were too tight and the great fast bowler continued bowling despite bloodied feet.

"That afternoon when I hobbled into the dressing room there was hardly any skin left on my toes. I was able to wring blood out of both pairs of socks," he wrote in The Larwood Story.

Another boots-related story worth relating concerns departed India fast bowler Vasant Ranjane. His India captain Nari Contractor once noticed him sitting all by himself in the dressing room. He chose not to tell his captain about his bruised feet, but Contractor couldn't forget the sight of Ranjane's blood-soaked socks. There was no way out because those were the only pair of boots Ranjane had.

Fast bowlers don't always give in to boast like England's Fred Trueman loved to do, but they do have massive hearts and the ability to see off pain and continue with the job at hand. Many a time, like Ishant has done, they also do it for the captain.

Dennis Lillee woke up "feeling terrible" in Perth on December 11, 1971. It was a day when the Rest of the World had to respond to Australia's 349 on a quick WACA track. After four overs with his analysis reading 2-29, he walks across to his captain Ian Chappell to say he was feeling unwell and wondered whether a break would do him good. The captain asked for a couple more and Lillee got into some special rhythm.

He got his rest in the dressing room a little later after claiming 8 for 29 as the Garfield Sobers-led Rest of the World were bowled out for 59. In 7.1 overs, Lillee blew away the opposition which included some big names like Sunil Gavaskar, Rohan Kanhai, Zaheer Abbas, Clive Lloyd and skipper Sobers himself. "It was probably the toughest hour and a half I've spent at cricket. I have bowled many more than 7.1 overs on the run before in much less pleasant conditions and pulled up feeling far better than I did that day," wrote Lillee in Back to the Mark.

Ishant's Delhi and India teammate Ashish Nehra too has gone down in cricket's book of grit when he claimed 6-23 against England in Durban at the 2003 World Cup, a bad ankle notwithstanding. Many years before that, Kapil Dev bowled India to victory in the Melbourne Test of 1981 despite a thigh injury.

In the 1983 World Cup final against India, Michael Holding bowled with a cracked instep and fellow West Indian Andy Roberts brought up this great example of commitment as the erstwhile champions licked their wounds in the Lord's dressing room.

Surely, Ishant has not spoken about his other deeds of courage. Probably, he will reveal them in an autobiography, which will hopefully talk about how he was needed for only five overs in his 100th Test. That's as incredible a story as any.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.