Sorry for Ishant and Test cricket

That the third India v England Test at Ahmedabad concluded inside two days on a muchvilified surface and due to supposedly poor cricket by the visiting England teamrsquos batsmen were not the only aspects which led to the Motera Test going down as one of the most bizarre ones in Test match historyIt was also an extraordinary one for Ishant Sharma who became only the second Indian fast bowler to play 100 Tests for his country after Kapil DevIshant celebrated his first wicket of the Test by getting opener Dom Sibley edging one to Rohit at second slip in the third over of the dayHe was required to bowl only five overs in the innings and there was nothing more for his bowling arm to do in the remainder of the Test as Ravichandran Ashwin and local lad Axar Patel held swayThere have been several supporters for the surface that was rolled out for the pinkball Test many contrary opinions slapped down But that a fast bowler of Ishantrsquos experience exuberance and endurance was required for just five overs in his 100th Test is nothing but a tattered advertisement hoarding for Test cricketRemember this is the very format of the game which the purists of the world seem to be keen on saving This is the same format which we hear cricketers say they want to excel in and be known for when the final full stop of their careers is inscribedNo the ball didnrsquot turn square No there were no injuries due to the surface But Ahmedabad did nothing for Test cricket to glowThere should have been better reasons for us to remember Ishantrsquos 100th Test Sure he has not been the most consistent of fast bowlers Indeed he could have reached his milestone a few years before it happened but he has been a warrior in his own way rediscovering himself supremely in the last four yearsFrom Ashwinrsquos YouTube interaction with him emerged a story about how he went up to his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said that he wouldnrsquot take any more injections for his bad knee to last out the 201415 Melbourne Test without knowing that it was the last time he was on a Test match field with the inspirational leaderIt reminded us of the pain Ishant had endured to go his distance to stay in the game to still be pivotal to India a good seven years after he made his first tour to Australia in 200708Fast bowlers are big heroes in the willow game and Ishantrsquos Melbourne recollection caused me to think more about their heroic deeds over the yearsIn the Melbourne Test of the 193233 Bodyline series Englandrsquos Harold Larwood refused to return to the dressing room for a change of boots because he feared the crowd booing him for yet another returnThe boots borrowed from teammate George Duckworth who had to leave the ground to repair Larwoodrsquos original pair were too tight and the great fast bowler continued bowling despite bloodied feetldquoThat afternoon when I hobbled into the dressing room there was hardly any skin left on my toes I was able to wring blood out of both pairs of socksrdquo he wrote in The Larwood StoryAnother bootsrelated story worth relating concerns departed India fast bowler Vasant Ranjane His India captain Nari Contractor once noticed him sitting all by himself in the dressing room He chose not to tell his captain about his bruised feet but Contractor couldnrsquot forget the sight of Ranjanersquos bloodsoaked socks There was no way out because those were the only pair of boots Ranjane hadFast bowlers donrsquot always give in to boast like Englandrsquos Fred Trueman loved to do but they do have massive hearts and the ability to see off pain and continue with the job at hand Many a time like Ishant has done they also do it for the captainDennis Lillee woke up ldquofeeling terriblerdquo in Perth on December 11 1971 It was a day when the Rest of the World had to respond to Australiarsquos 349 on a quick WACA track After four overs with his analysis reading 229 he walks across to his captain Ian Chappell to say he was feeling unwell and wondered whether a break would do him good The captain asked for a couple more and Lillee got into some special rhythmHe got his rest in the dressing room a little later after claiming 8 for 29 as the Garfield Sobersled Rest of the World were bowled out for 59 In 71 overs Lillee blew away the opposition which included some big names like Sunil Gavaskar Rohan Kanhai Zaheer Abbas Clive Lloyd and skipper Sobers himself ldquoIt was probably the toughest hour and a half Irsquove spent at cricket I have bowled many more than 71 overs on the run before in much less pleasant conditions and pulled up feeling far better than I did that dayrdquo wrote Lillee in Back to the MarkIshantrsquos Delhi and India teammate Ashish Nehra too has gone down in cricketrsquos book of grit when he claimed 623 against England in Durban at the 2003 World Cup a bad ankle notwithstanding Many years before that Kapil Dev bowled India to victory in the Melbourne Test of 1981 despite a thigh injuryIn the 1983 World Cup final against India Michael Holding bowled with a cracked instep and fellow West Indian Andy Roberts brought up this great example of commitment as the erstwhile champions licked their wounds in the Lordrsquos dressing roomSurely Ishant has not spoken about his other deeds of courage Probably he will reveal them in an autobiography which will hopefully talk about how he was needed for only five overs in his 100th Test Thatrsquos as incredible a story as anymiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper