Ishant Sharma was a mainstay in the Indian team for many years, particularly in Test cricket, until he fell out of contention in late 2021. While he played a stellar role in India's 2013 Champions Trophy win, Ishant's career saw a steady decline since then, chiefly due to injuries, before he became a mainstay in Test cricket between 2016 and 2021.
One of the after effects of the injuries he sustained was that Ishant's limited overs career in international cricket ended in practically came to halt in 2016. While Ishant last played a Test in November 2021, his last ODI match came in January 2016. He has only played 14 T20Is, last of which came October 2013. The injuries also led to Ishant missing the 2015 World Cup in Australia. The 34-year-old has now revealed that his efforts in the 2014 Melbourne Test may have contributed to him not featuring in that tournament.
ALSO READ | Gavaskar blasts BCCI selectors for Ajinkya Rahane vice-captaincy call, makes 3 unusual picks as next India Test skipper
“My pain threshold is very high. I missed the 2015 World Cup because of this. We were playing a Test series (in Australia). It was Mahi bhai’s (MS Dhoni’s) last Test match and I suddenly had pain in my knee," Ishant told social media influencer Ranveer Allahbadia on the latter's Youtube channel.
{{/usCountry}}“My pain threshold is very high. I missed the 2015 World Cup because of this. We were playing a Test series (in Australia). It was Mahi bhai’s (MS Dhoni’s) last Test match and I suddenly had pain in my knee," Ishant told social media influencer Ranveer Allahbadia on the latter's Youtube channel.
{{/usCountry}}“(Mohammed) Shami and Umesh (Yadav) were bowling and (Ravichandran) Ashwin was the third (bowler). I saw that they were also tired and thought, ‘How long will they bowl?’ So I told my physio, ‘Please call a doctor and get me an injection.,'" he said.
“I was taking an injection every session. We bowled five sessions and I took six injections. Because I could not see that my team was losing because of me. It ultimately proved to be harmful. Duncan Fletcher was our coach at that time. He used to say, ‘Don’t take the injections, the World Cup is coming up.’ But I told him the same thing, ‘I feel like I am cheating the team (if I am not bowling).'”
Mohit Sharma was announced as Ishant's replacement in the 2015 World Cup. India ended up losing to hosts and eventual champions Australia by 95 runs in Sydney. Australia then beat New Zealand in the final to win their fifth World Cup title.