Sharma has bowled well in the three innings so far on this tour of Bangladesh, but because it came against a set of batsmen lacking quality, it's too early to say whether he has completely left the past behind

Too early to say if Ishant is back to his best

It's not quite the jail break yet, but Ishant Sharma feels he is close. It wasn"t that far back that Ishant would have had sleepless nights thinking about his uncertain future. He was leaking runs in ODIs, struggled to pick up wickets in Tests and looked the pale shadow of the bowler who once harassed Ricky Ponting in Australia. The boy who filled You Tube videos seemed to have suddenly grown into a weary man.

The end of the last year in particular was really testing. Ishant thinks it was the worst. "I have never such hard times in my life. It was a really big challenge because I was desperate to perform that time. Before that, for two-three years, I was just going up, up and up. You needed patience to get out of those times," Ishant said.

"I have realised that a cricketer has to go through those kinds of patches in his life. It has been great learning experience for me." The Delhi paceman claimed four wickets which helped India bowl out Bangladesh for 233.

He has bowled well in the three innings so far on this tour of Bangladesh but because it came against a set of batsmen lacking quality, it"s too early to say whether he has completely left the past behind but you can"t blame him for choosing to look ahead. "It has been good start to the New Year. I am bowling better, have a better rhythm now and feeling confident going into the next series coming up against South Africa."

He thanked Zaheer Khan for helping him with his tips and suggestions and also said he is working well with Eric Simons ("He has given me tips about wrist position and bowling action) but those were replies to direct questions on those two individuals.

The one man he sought to mention himself was Virender Sehwag. "I am really thankful for the confidence and support. I am very thankful to Virubhai because he had a lot to do with me playing in the first Test (in Chittagong). Just before bringing up Sehwag"s name he said, "I would like to thank the management for giving me chances in the ODIs against Sri Lanka. Even I didn"t feel I deserved the spot in those two games. I am really grateful for the confidence and support; it meant a lot." Sehwag was the captain in one of the two games Ishant figured in. Figured that?

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