Ishant Sharma, an Indian right-arm fast bowler, was born on September 2, 1988 in Delhi. Owing to his lean and tall build, he is popularly known as “Lambu” in the cricket world. His bowling pace is approximately 145 km/hr and on February 17, 2008 in a match against Australia, in Adelaide, Ishant Sharma delivered a ball at a speed of 152.6 km/hr, which not only became the fastest ball bowled by an Indian, but also earned him appreciation, making him the first Indian to bowl over 150km/hr.
Ishant Sharma was included in the Test squad in May 2007 for the Bangladesh tour and made his Test debut on May 25, 2007 by playing instead of Munaf Patel, a fast bowler. In the second test, he delivered three overs, during which he bowled a maiden over, and conceded only five runs. Ishant Sharma received a call-up for the tour of England in July-August 2007 and in December 2007, he was recalled for the third Test match during Pakistan’s tour of India, in which he took a five-wicket haul, which earned him a place in the Indian team for the tour of Australia.
In January 2008, Ishant Sharma replaced Zaheer Khan and played for India in the second Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground and his impressive performance made him stay behind for the third Test match in Perth. A major breakthrough in his Test career came on the fourth day of the match, when he claimed the wicket of Ricky Ponting, the captain of Australia, and helped India win the match. Ishant Sharma also picked up two more wickets in the successive match in Adelaide, during which he clocked his highest bowling speed, 147.7 km/hr, till that date, but later went on to eclipse that speed, setting a new record. His impressive bowling performances at the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) troubled the Australian batsmen, and even made Ricky Ponting acknowledge that he is a dangerous player. Following this match, on February 10, 2008, Ishant Sharma bowled a 149.5 km/hr ball against Australia in Melbourne, and one week later, he clocked his fastest ball, 153.0 km/hr in Adelaide, breaking the record (149.7 km/h versus Zimbabwe at World Cup 2003) set earlier by Ashish Nehra.
Ishant Sharma made his first One Day International (ODI) appearance in a match against South Africa on June 29, 2007 and on February 10, 2008 he scalped four vital wickets in the fourth ODI, a match against Australia, at the Commonwealth Bank (CB) series. At the end of the match, his scorecard read 4/38, helping him win the Man of the Match award. Ishant Sharma continued his good bowling form in the seventh ODI, which was a match against Australia on February 18, 2008, and claimed two wickets. On February 1, 2008, Ishant Sharma played his first and only International Twenty20 (T20I) match against Australia in Melbourne.
Following his exceptional performances against Australia, the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise bought Ishant Sharma for a surprising $950,000, which was the highest amount paid for any bowler at the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. Ishant Sharma featured in 13 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders, claiming seven wickets for the team.
