If he scores 100, we’d have to jump off: Ishant Sharma recalls hilarious episode with KL Rahul during Windies Test series

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma recalled a hilarious episode with batsman KL Rahul after he struck his maiden Test fifty in the 2nd Test against West Indies in August last year.

India fast bowler Ishant Sharma recalled the time he was challenged by teammate KL Rahul to score more runs than him in a Test innings. The incident he is referring to took place during the 2nd Test match between India and West Indies last year in August, where Rahul scored 13 in the first innings and told Ishant that if he were to surpass his score, the opener would do all kinds of favours for him. Luckily for Ishant, he scored a half-century – 57 off 80 balls with seven boundaries– once Ishant returned to the dressing room, he couldn’t stop flaunting it.

Ishant Sharma and KL Rahul.(AFP/PTI/HT Collage)

In a video interaction on BCCI website, Mayank Agarwal asked Ishant Sharma about how he felt when he reached the 50-run mark and skipper Virat Kohli and rest of the members of the Indian team came out in the balcony to applaud. Ishant, in response, asked Mayank if he remembers KL Rahul’s reaction.

“Forget everyone’s reaction. Ask KL, how he felt about me scoring a fifty. He said ‘we were thinking if he scores a hundred, we would have to jump off from the balcony’,” Ishant said, laughing.

Mayank, then further asked Ishant if there was some sort of challenge that KL had given to him. “KL had given you some challenge, to pass his score. As soon as you passed his score, KL was like ‘aaj Ishi bhai bohot sunaega’,” Mayank Agarwal said during a video chat. 

“KL scored some 25-26 runs (he had actually scored 13 runs) and he said ‘son, if you score more than me, I will do this and that for you’. After I scored a half century, I gave him some batting advice and he was like ‘Stop it bro, you scored fifty and ab meri jaan kha raha hai (and now you are teasing me),” Ishant responded.

“My batting gloves got wet for the 1st time. Rahul gave me a pair of new gloves with which I batted in that innings. He was like ‘I should have batted with these gloves and then I could also have scored a fifty’.”

It was the same match in which Ishant says he saw Cheteshwar Pujara angry for the first time. The batsman went for a big shot off Rahkeem Cornwall, the burly West Indies spinner, but ended up getting caught by Shamarh Brooks at point for 6 off 25.

“I saw Pujara angry for the first time. He hammered a cut which went straight into the hands of the fielder at point. I asked Pujara ‘I saw you angry for the first time’. ‘What do I do yaar, I tried to hit a spinner for a big shot on the green wicket and it went for a catch’,” Ishant added.