Straight and varied, Ishant revels in new tricks

At the conclusion of the Indore Test, a light-hearted conversation ensued between India's three quicks who'd railroaded the opposition in yet another home Test. Ishant Sharma pointed towards Mohammed Shami, and jokingly asked for his 'secret' that gets him wickets every time.

"We're tired of just beating the bat," he said and laughed while Shami blushed. It was all in jest, of course, but one can't ignore the fact that Ishant once did carry the burden of being a bowler who'd beat the bat often but not see corresponding dividends in his wickets column.

But that version - a defensive version - of Ishant is a thing of the past. The senior India pacer, who is now just five short of 100 Tests caps, is at such a juncture of his career and life that his mind is free of any worries about the future. By his own admission, there is a feeling of hurt to an extent for not being part of India's white-ball sides, but the 31-year-old has found positive avenues to channel such frustrations away.

One such diversion led him to Brighton and Hove for a county stint with Sussex in April 2018, where the idea of adding variations to his existing skills with the red ball was propagated. In the fine company of Jason Gillespie, Ishant tweaked minute nuances of his bowling, that the Aussie elucidates in depth