India vs England: Sachin Tendulkar Congratulates Ishant Sharma for Reaching Landmark of 100 Tests

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter on Wednesday to congratulate pacer Ishant Sharma for reaching the landmark of playing 100 Tests. Ishant will become only the second pacer from India to reach the landmark, with only former captain Kapil Dev being the other Indian fast bowler to have achieved the distinction. “Playing 100 Tests is a great landmark for any cricketer, especially a fast bowler. Have seen you play from your U-19 days & played alongside you in your 1st Test. Proud of you & your service to #TeamIndia. Continue to serve in the best possible manner. Congrats @ImIshant,” Tendulkar said on Twitter.

Meanwhile in a recent interaction, Delhi pacer Ishant recalled how he, just like everyone else, was stunned at the sudden nature of MS Dhoni’s Test retirement and how he found out about it in the most unusual of circumstances.

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“I felt very bad (on MS Dhoni’s retirement). I had taken many injections for that Melbourne Test match because I was experiencing severe pain in my knee. I did not know that Mahi bhai was going to retire. In fact, nobody knew that he was going to retire. So, I was taking an injection every session,” Ishant said with an interaction with R Ashwin on his YouTube channel.

“When it was almost Tea on Day 4, and Australia were about to declare… I told Mahi bhai that I cannot take injections any more. So, he told me, that’s okay. You don’t need to bowl now. Then something happened, and he told me, ‘lambu tune mujhe Test match mein chhod diya’ (you have left me in this Test match). I did not understand. Then he elaborated, ‘you left me midway in my last Test match’.

“I was stunned. I told him if I knew I would definitely have continued to play. So that was a really touching story. I didn’t know till the last day that he was retiring.”

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India are currently level 1-1 with England in the four-match Test series, having lost the first Test at Chennai before rebounding with a victory. India need to win the series to guarantee themselves a place in the World Test Championship final later this year.

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