Ishant Sharma not sure whether he will be back for T20 World Cup

Zeenews Sports Bureau

Ishant Sharma, the lanky fast bowler is in a recovery mode these days. The Delhi lad underwent an ankle surgery in March 2012 causing him to miss the IPL 5 and since then he has been off radar. Talking to Zeeenws.com on the sidelines of an event, Ishant wished comeback man Irfan Pathan good luck for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and expressed his disappointment to see one of the greats of fast bowling, Brett hanging up his boots. But when will the tormentor of Ricky Ponting be back? Not in the near future, he hinted, “I can’t say anything right now, I need some more time to recover”. When probed further whether he will be fit for the New Zealand series or the T20 World Cup, Ishant Sharma replied, “Actually ... I can’t give you the time or any particular date of my comeback as I have just started bowling and everything and I need to get back into my rhythm. The last time Ishant Sharma played an international was during the miserable Australia series which India lost 0-4. Ishant’s personal form owing to the ankle niggle was nothing to boast about as he finished with five wickets conceding 451 runs in the series where he played all the four matches. After having a rollicking start to his career which took off in the 2007-08 Test series in Australia, the 6`4" bowler has seen the ups and downs of his career. In that career defining series for Ishant, another master exponent of the art of fast bowling, Brett Lee, who retired recently had topped the wicket charts that summer with 24 wickets in four Tests. On being asked about Lee’s retirement, Ishant expressed his disappointment but was quick to point out the ever diminishing shelf-life of fast bowlers these days. He said,” Obviously he is an all-time great. A fantastic bowler from Australia and he has been fantastic throughout his career actually. Obviously feeling a bit sad that Brett Lee decided to quit international cricket; but you know, at some point everyone has to leave, so obviously, good luck to him for the future.” With the Indian team all set to take a short flight to Sri Lanka for 5 ODIs and one T20I which starts on 21st July , the inclusion of Irfan Pathan have given the Baroda bowler a lease of life and Sharma believes that the leftie is going to perform well in the Emerald Isle. “He has done well in the past. He played well in Australia and in the Asia Cup. Obviously he did quite well, so good luck to him as well; hopefully he puts up a good performance in the upcoming series.” Well, hope that Pathan gets his rhythm back till the time Ishant Sharma is fully fit and fine to join the Indian team again.