‘Abey jaa na…’: Ishant Sharma recalls hilarious banter with Virat Kohli back in 2019

Speaking about his half-century, Ishant said, “Oh, that is a special one. Scoring my first 50 against the West Indies. I was very relaxed. I think that was in Jamaica. I was very relaxed, talking to Virat, putting my feet up on the table. And he said, what are you going to do? I said, I’m going to bat. I said, I’m going to score runs. He was laughing and said, “Abbey jaa na“. Obviously, being a Delhi boy, we played together since childhood. Under 17s, we started playing together. And then he said, go man, just stand there and play the ball. (Hanuma) Vihari will score runs.”

“Vihari and me were batting. And then he was asking, what should I do? I said, just keep on playing normal cricket. Don’t worry, I won’t throw my wicket. So, we’ll build a partnership. And after 60 balls, I got tired. Then they (Indian captain etc) were saying, we’re not gonna declare. We want you to bat. And I am telling you guys, I never sweat that much. Even while bowling. How much I sweat after batting for 60 balls. So, it was a tough day for me after batting,” he added.

Speaking about Ishant Sharma, he took 311 wickets for India at an average of 32.30, with best number of 7/74, which includes 11 fifers and a ten-fer. He is the sixth-highest Test wicket-taker for India, and played his last red-ball match back in November 2021 against New Zealand.