‘Do whatever you want, but don’t get banned’ – Ishant Sharma on Virat Kohli’s advice for him

Ishant Sharma, the Indian fast bowler, has heaped praises on his skipper Virat Kohli, saying the latter loves aggression around. The speedster opined that Virat enjoys his teammates trying to get under the skin of the opposition. Though he has toned down as his career has progressed, Virat remains to be an aggressive character for which he has had to face loads of criticism as well.

However, Ishant also said that Virat understands where to draw the line while sledging. The Delhi-born stated that Kohli gave him the freedom to express himself, but advised him to avoid doing something worth getting banned.

“He is an aggressive captain; he loves it when you show aggression and he doesn’t tell you anything for that,” Ishant told to Mayank Agarwal in a video uploaded by the BCCI.

He came again and said do everything you want: Ishant Sharma

“He always says just get me the wicket and do whatever you want. He just tells me not to get banned. So, when I was banned in Sri Lanka he came again and said do everything you want but just don’t get banned,” Ishant mentioned.

Ishant told about the match against Sri Lanka in 2015 when he along with Dinesh Chandimal was given a one-match suspension. It’s for the same reason why Ishant didn’t play the first Test versus South Africa in the very next month.

Ishant also recalled the Bangalore Test against Australia where he made faces at Steve Smith. He admitted that the now world’s number one Test batter’s wicket could potentially be a game changer. In that series, Smith was the leading run-scorer, having notched 499 runs in four games at an average of 71.28 with three centuries.

“We had lost the Pune Test, and the series was on the line. The wicket on Bengaluru had its ups-and-downs. You try your best to upset the batsman. He was playing, and doing all sorts of things. I tried my best to upset him.

“I knew if I could get his wicket, we can win the match. So, I was trying to get him out of his comfort zone. I knew if he became comfortable, he could win the match,” he added.