Ishant Sharma IPL Profile

Ishant Sharma is a renowned Indian international cricketer, who plays in all cricket formats. Sharma, who is known for his distinct height of 6 ft 4 inches, was born on September 2, 1988, in Delhi and is rated as one of the best Indian bowlers of his generation as the right-handed pacer bowled some memorable spells, especially on foreign soil. 

Sharma piqued selectors' attention at a young age with his exceptional bowling abilities in domestic cricket. Ishant was selected to be a member of the Indian national team at 18 for the 2006–2007 tour of South Africa. However, following some visa-related issues, he couldn't make it to the team. 

Sharma eventually played his first international match for India during a Test match against  Bangladesh in 2007 as he replaced Munaf Patel in the squad. However, Sharma shot into the limelight in 2008 when his express pace and movement terrorised Australia's batting great Ricky Ponting during the Border-Gavaskar series in Perth. 

Notably, he bowled the second-fastest ball ever by an Indian bowler against Australia in Adelaide in February 2008 with a speed of 152.6 km/h (94.8 mph). Ge surpassed Ashish Nehra's 149.7 kph delivery and became the first Indian to bowl above 150 km/h. Significantly, he also contributed with his batting in addition to his bowling. In the next Border-Gavaskar series in 2010, Ishant assisted VVS Laxman with an 81-run partnership, leading the team to achieve an extremely unexpected victory by one wicket.

Sharma has been associated with several IPL franchises in his 13-year-long career but his bowling never suited the T20 format or the white-ball format overall and is seen as India's red-ball expert. He started his IPL journey for the Delhi Capitals in 2008 and then associated with Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rising Pune Supergiant, and Kings XI Punjab for different IPL seasons. Sharma returned to his home franchise Delhi Capitals in 2019 and played substantial matches in the first season. However, being injury prone and presence of strong competition squad meant his appearances shrinked for the Capitals.