When Ishant Sharma first came on the scene as a gawky 19-year-old, they said he was the game's most exciting young fast bowler. Watching him dismiss Ricky Ponting a few times, Australian greats Steve Waugh and Terry Alderman said the youngster had it in him to become India's greatest fast bowler after Kapil Dev.
All these happened just three years ago but they appear to be a distant memory.
The young man from Delhi was back in the spotlight on Wednesday night with a fiery five-wicket spell that saw Deccan Chargers demolish Kochi Tuskers Kerala at the Nehru Stadium here.
His five for 12 off just three overs, on a wicket that was virtually a fast bowler's paradise, is the third-best ever in the DLF-Indian Premier League after Sohail Tanvir's six for 14 in 2008 and Anil Kumble's five for five the next year.
It's also the best this season, just edging past Mumbai Indians' Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga's five for 13 which came a fortnight ago in Delhi.
With a few senior Indian players, including Zaheer Khan, keen on skipping the coming tour of the West Indies to rest their weary bodies after playing the World Cup and the IPL virtually without any break, Ishant may come into the reckoning for a national team berth all over again. And his sparkling performance came at the right time too.
No illusions
But the 22-year-old, who has seen a lot in his international career (31 Tests, 45 ODIs & 11 T20) before losing his momentum, was under no illusions when asked about a possible return to Team India.
“Still a long way to go for me, it's just the start for me. I don't think about selection, I just think about the present, what I'm doing right now,” said the Deccan Chargers star who missed a hat-trick against Kochi Tuskers on Wednesday.
Ishant is quite fortunate to have South African Dale Steyn, the World's No. 1 fast bowler, as his Chargers teammate as he fine-tunes his rhythm, form and works on his consistency.
The 6ft, 4in fast bowler who is blessed with a rhythmic high-arm action said he was learning a lot of technical things about his craft these days.
