Ishant Sharma reveals he played his debut Test wearing Zaheer Khan’s spikes

Ishant Sharma has been one of the gold finds of Indian cricket and for the past decade, has served the country with utmost intensity and has become the leader of the pack in the Test format for Team India. The tall lad from Delhi has played 90 Tests, 14 T20Is and 80 ODIs for the Indian team since his debut in 2007 at the age of 19.

Ishant was making name for himself in the domestic circuit for being a 6`4” tall bowler, who could hit the speeds of over 140kmph easily. This enabled him to be fast-tracked into the Indian team, after making his Ranji debut at the age of 18. His amazing bowling on his second overseas tour, which was his first to Australia, which even led to the great Steve Waugh saying that Ishant was the next best thing for India.

Ishant reveals his kit bag was misplaced during his debut series in Bangladesh

In the web-series Breakfast with Champions, hosted by Gaurav Kapur, Ishant Sharma revealed some interesting tidbits about his debut tour to Bangladesh in 2007. He said he was intimidated to see the likes of Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag in the dressing room. Being a 19-year-old and playing for the Indian team is overwhelming enough, but then to get your kit misplaced by the airlines.

Yes, that is what Ishant Sharma revealed that his kit bag was misplaced by the airlines and he was left with only the kit he received from the BCCI, the jersey and pants, but his shoes were in the bag, which was then in some unknown place. “Do you how I made my debut. Clothes and kit, I got from BCCI, but the shoes I had to take from Zaheer Khan. My and his feet size are the same. As I reached, my kit bag was misplaced, and I was wondering how will I play? I didn’t practice, because I had no shoes and went straight to the match,” Ishant was quoted as saying in the video.

It is true that Ishant made his debut in the shoes of the great Zaheer Khan and it really brought him some luck, given that he has gone onto pick 267 Test and 115 ODI wickets.

Here is the video: