If Ishant Sharma was not a very important bowler, the Indian team management wouldn't have got him on the plane to New Zealand immediately after his rehab in Bangalore and played a jet-lagged pacer in the first Test at Wellington where he delivered with a fifer despite coming off an ankle injury.

Ishant's revival since 2018 has been phenomenal. Even as Jasprit Bumrah gets most of the attention, Ishant has been quietly going about his business.