Ishant Sharma recalls Zaheer Khan’s support during debut ODI match: Borrowed shoes helped me play

For many years, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan split the new ball for India in all competitions. However, their friendship is deeper yet because the elder pacer was crucial to the young Delhi bowler’s ODI and Test debuts.

The moment before they make their international debut, players have butterflies in their stomachs. Ishant Sharma, a former Indian bowler, was anxious and worried even before his debut match since he had to go alone to Ireland to join the team for an ODI series due to a number of players being unwell or unavailable.

Ishant, who had only participated in a handful of Ranji Trophy games up to that point but had been chosen for the ensuing Test series against England, was departing Indian soil for the first time and had to fly by himself to England and then to Ireland. To make matters worse, he misplaced his kit bag and bags while in transit.

Ishant hadn’t even had a net session in Ireland or the right shoes to play the match the next day when the then-skipper Rahul Dravid told him he would be making his debut in the match. Zaheer Khan had lent him his shoes.

“I was more nervous about the whole travel bit than about a match. Somehow, I made it to Ireland, jet-lagged, only to realise that my kit bag was missing. I knew that stuff gets stolen on the train but I had no idea this could happen on a flight,” Ishant Sharma said in Part 2 of his interview on Home of Heroes on JioCinema.

Ishant discussed the fascinating backstories that preceded the big day and how Zaheer Khan played a significant role in both his ODI and Test debuts by lending him shoes for one and helping him adjust in the dressing room for the other.

“I slept that night in the clothes I travelled in. I didn’t have my suitcase and my kit bag. I didn’t have any cards back then, so all my money was also there. I never knew what to use between a debit or credit card, so my father just told me to use cash. I didn’t even know I could claim that my kit bag was stolen, so I hadn’t done that.

“Rahul Dravid told me that I have to debut the next day and I responded, ‘But I can’t play barefoot!’ I didn’t even practice. I asked Zak (Zaheer Khan) for a pair of size 11 shoes so I could play the match. He gave me some shoes, but my toe kept hurting, but I didn’t care,” Ishant said.

When Ishant played his first Test in the Bangladesh series, Zaheer was also there to help him adjust to the team. Sharing the changing room among the famous athletes he had previously only seen on television completely stunned Ishant.

“I remember the Bangladesh series where I made my Test debut. A dressing room with Paaji (Harbhajan Singh), Rahul bhai, Dada (Saurav Ganguly), Yuvi bhai (Yuvraj Singh), and Wasim bhai (Wasim Jaffer) was overwhelming,” he said in the interview.

“I used to sit with Zak and watch them on TV and now suddenly sharing the room with them. I wanted to go and lie down but somehow I controlled my feeling. I couldn’t muster the courage to say a word. Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) and RP Singh were there. I was in a situation where a goat was surrounded by lions. Zak imagined what I was going through and told me to chill and relax. After that, I felt a lot more comfortable, but I was sitting quietly in a corner,” he said.

Ishant also talked about when he was first selected for the Indian team and the way his father reacted to the news.

“I debuted in Bangladesh. I was at home when I got a call for India selection. I still remember that day, for the first time, I saw my father in tears. They were tears of joy, and he told me this is just the start. I had never hugged my father, we bonded well but obviously, we would have occasional disagreements over certain topics, and he would suppress his emotions. He would want to appear strong. He never imagined this day would come,” said Ishant.

-IANS