‘I was the reason behind team’s loss’- Veteran India cricketer reveals how MS Dhoni’s leadership inspired him to bounce back

Perception is a fickle thing in sports. It takes years to build and a single moment to destroy it. Veteran Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma knows this all too well, as he reflects on what he considers the “lowest point” of his career – the 2013 ODI match against Australia in Mohali.

In that match, Ishant was hammered for 30 runs in an over by Australian all-rounder James Faulkner, including a boundary and four sixes. While it was a moment of ecstasy for Faulkner, it was agony for Ishant as Australia went on to win the match with three balls to spare.

But it wasn’t the thrashing in that over that hurt Ishant the most; it was the fact that India lost because of his bowling. “The thing that hurt me the most was I was the reason behind the team’s loss,” he recalls. “I used to call (my wife) everyday and cry over the phone saying that team lost because of me.”

Ishant’s perceived failure in that match had lasting consequences. He was benched for the rest of the series, and only managed a handful of appearances in white-ball cricket before being dropped altogether in 2016. The perception became that Ishant was not a white-ball bowler, despite his success in Test cricket.

A strong comeback

But Ishant did not let that perception define him. He recalls the support he received from then-skipper MS Dhoni and teammate Shikhar Dhawan, who reassured him that he was still a good player. “The good thing that happened was Mahi bhai came to my room and Shikhar, who was playing that game, also came and said, ‘Look you have been doing well. Because of that one match there became a perception that I am not a white-ball bowler.'”

Ishant’s resilience and determination have paid off in the long run. He went on to become one of the few fast bowlers in modern cricket history to play 100 Test matches, and his heroics in the longest format of the game will always be remembered. But he also knows the importance of perception, and how a single moment can shape it. “I don’t know if I could ever have a moment worse than that,” he says. “It was very tough for me.”