Ishant Sharma - From Being A Snub At School To India's Leading Test Bowler

From a boy who once sat at a west Delhi intersection with tears in his eyes after failing to get admitted to a recognized school 17 years ago to becoming the second India pace bowler to play 100 Tests

On his way back with Banka, Ishant sat at the Siddharth Hotel circle/intersection near their home in west Delhi and had tea at a shop they'd frequent. He was inconsolable.

He would get admitted to Ganga International School soon with the help of Rohtak Road Gymkhana club coach Sharwan Kumar, who took him under his wings. But the new school at Hiran Kudna was 22 kilometers from his home, unlike Salwan which was in the immediate vicinity.

Sharwan had coached at the famous Sonnet Cricket Club in Delhi for 20 years -- between 1970 and 1990 when many of Delhi's top stars took their initial steps at the club -- before starting his own coaching center at the Rohtak Road Gymkhana within the Ramjas Sports Complex in West Patel Nagar in Delhi.

"Ishant was tall, had speed. His action was fine but the run-up was bad. He would stutter in his run-up, bowl no-balls and then he would run and sometimes fall. He was erratic. That happens because of run-up," recalls Sharwan.

"I got him admitted to Ganga International School and told him, you play there for three days and play here with me for four days," he added.

Sharwan asked OP Malhotra, the sports advisor, and head at the school, to induct him.

"He had height and we made him work hard on fitness," said OP Malhotra, who struggles with speech these days due to age.

Malhotra was a former director of physical education at DAV College. He had turned the college into a cricket powerhouse under his tenure and broke the dominance of established powerhouses like St Stephen's and Hindu College in the 1980s and 1990s. At one point, there were seven or eight Delhi Ranji players from DAV like Raman Lamba, Manu Nayyar, Bantoo Singh, Ajay Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar, etc. Some of DAV's products went on to play first-class cricket for other states too.

Helped by his height and pace, Ishant catapulted into Delhi under-19 team and then to the Ranji Trophy squad. Former India wicket-keeper Vijay Dahiya was playing his second last first-class game in which Ishant made his debut.