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

"He was quick. What impressed us on the eve of the match was that he was getting a lot of bounce. In the match too, he was getting bounce on (the dead) Ferozeshah Kotla pitch. Bounce was his strongest point," recalls Dahiya.

"Also the temperament. Bowling at the Kotla and not complaining even one bit or even asking how many he has to bowl," Dahiya said.

Dahiya made 152 in that game and Ishant took four wickets in the first innings, bowling as many as 34 overs -- Ashish Nehra bowled 40 -- as Delhi avoided exposing their spinners to Tamil Nadu batsmen who were good players of spin.

That habit of bowling a lot of overs has continued since.

"From 2008 till now, a lot of things have changed but one thing that has remained unchanged is his long, long spells. That has been his strength throughout his career," former India teammate Irfan Pathan, who was in the Indian squad for the 2007-08 tour of Australia where Ishant burst into the limelight, told.

"He has seen injuries, he has seen his wrist go down, and then he worked on it and got back the original wrist position. (But) his strength has been bowling long spells, over and over again. That is why he survived for so many years. I wish him all the luck and hope he plays a lot more Tests," added Pathan.

The resilience has shown through his career, especially with his battle with injuries, which started early in his career. He had a shoulder injury just before his Test debut (May 2007) which came just six months after his Ranji Trophy debut. During fielding practice with fielding coach Robin Singh in Dhaka, he was throwing under-arm to avoid straining it. Somehow his injury escaped notice and he made his Test debut, taking one wicket.