Ishant Sharma played his first Indian Premier League (IPL) game for Delhi Capitals (DC) after a gap of 700 days in the IPL 2023, since last featuring in a match in IPL 2021.
Having lost their first five games this season, Delhi now have back-to-back wins and Ishant has nabbed three wickets in the same.
On the other hand, Akshar Patel, the vice-captain of the DC side, has been excellent for them with the bat and the ball.
And in a the recent episode of the DC TV, the two had a candid chat about cricket and stuff, where Ishant Sharma hilariously blasted Akshar for not inquiring about his health when he was down with fever. Upon landing in Bangalore for DC’s fifth game against RCB, Ishant was down with fever for three days.
“When I got the energy to stand a little bit, I picked the food tray and came to your room and said, ‘Tereko sharam toh aati nahi, ek baar bhi phone nahi kiya. Mai jee raha hu, marr raha hu, tune mujhe ek baar poocha bhi nahi,” Ishant said to Akshar in a lighter mood.
Akshar replied: “I was praying for you. My prayers worked wonders for you in the match. You won a prize worth Rs. 1 Lakh.”
The all-rounder asked Ishant, who featured in his 100th Test for India back in 2021, on his comeback and the things he worked on while he wasn’t playing.
“I was working hard behind the scenes. I worked on things I couldn’t give time to and improve in all these years of cricket. Technical flaws such as my wrist would fall to one side. I would get tired pretty early. I tried finding reasons behind the same. I spoke to someone about my bowling. So I used this time I had to work on these things. To improve my bowling and to get back into bowling shape,” Ishant said.
Ishant Sharma also credited his wife, Indian basketball star, Pratima Singh for helping him off the field.
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“I think the support of wife and family is crucial at this point. When you’re frustrated, at least you have people around you who’ll listen to you. My wife never asked me to give up cricket when I was injured or not selected. She said, ‘Till the time your body supports you and you believe you can play at the highest level, you should.’ She is from the sports background as well and knows that playing and leaving the game are two very different things,” Ishant said.
He added, “Quitting sport is the easiest thing to do. When you feel you can’t play anymore, she feels it’s easiest to sit at home and do anything else. She knows that I always look to make the tough decisions, to make a comeback. She reminded me of the same and it helped me a lot.”
DC next play Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in their eighth IPL fixture this season.
(Indian Express inputs)
