Ishant Sharma made his debut under the leadership of Rahul Dravid, but the heyday of his illustrious career coincided with MS Dhoni’ s ascent to the rank of Indian captaincy. The speedster has recently revealed the camaraderies he shares with the former captain MS Dhoni and admired his contribution towards developing the youngsters.
The Delhi-born fast-bowler opened up about how his relationship with Dhoni took a positive turn only after 2013.
On a show called Cricket Connected, Sharma said: “Initially, my interaction with MS Dhoni was limited, but after 2013, I started talking to him and understanding him.”
He also talked about Mohammed Shami, who used to spend most of the time with Dhoni in his room.
“Then I got to know how cool he is and how nicely he talks to the youngsters and treats them. He is same on the field, he has never asked us to not visit him in his room. You can ask (Mohammed) Shami, he goes to his room the most! He has always been like this, and it’s a different moment to enjoy with him when you can learn a lot of things from him, about cricket or life.”
Sharma is not the first bowler who spoke so highly of Dhoni and his mentorship quality. Nearly every youngsters who played under the leadership of Dhoni applaud the wicketkeeper-batsman for his immense and unparalleled contribution to the Indian cricket team.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Virat Kohli’s world records, which he created in the game across all formats are built on the substructure whose foundation was laid by none other but Dhoni.
Ishant is short of just three matches to reach the century of Test-match appearance for India. He, along with Jasprit Bumrah, will be leading the Indian pace battery when India visits Australia later this year to battle for the prestigious Border-Gavaskar trophy.
