• Source:JND
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India fast bowler Ishant Sharma revealed his first experience of entering the Indian dressing room after becoming a part of the squad that featured the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Rahul Dravid, and many more.

Ishant revealed that it was the fellow fast bowler Zaheer Khan who was familiar with what he was going through initially watching the stars in front of him, asking the newcomer to chill and relax.

"I used to sit with Zak and watched them on TV and now suddenly sharing the room with them. I wanted to go and lie down but somehow I controlled my feeling. I couldn’t muster the courage to say a word. Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) and RP Singh were there. I was in a situation where a goat was surrounded by lions. Zak imagined what I was going through and told me to chill and relax. After that, I felt a lot more comfortable but I was sitting quietly in a corner," Ishant said on Home of Heroes on JioCinema.

He also made a revelation about how Zaheer helped ahead of his debut, lending him shoes for one and easing him out in the dressing room for the other.

In May 2007, Sharma was selected for the Test team for the Bangladesh tour and played as a replacement for the fast bowler Munaf Patel. 

"Rahul Dravid told me that I have to debut tomorrow and I responded, ‘But I can’t play barefoot!’ I didn’t even practice. I asked Zak (Zaheer Khan) for a pair of size 11 shoes so I could play the match. He gave me some shoes, but my toe kept hurting, but I didn’t care," he further said.

"I don’t remember much because my mind was fixated on shoes and clothes and how I will play. But I remember the Bangladesh series where I made my Test debut. A dressing room with Paaji (Harbhajan Singh), Rahul bhai, Dada (Saurav Ganguly), Yuvi bhai (Yuvraj Singh), and Wasim bhai (Wasim Jaffer) was overwhelming," Ishant added.

The 34-year-old pacer has achieved various landmarks and one of them includes playing 100 Test matches for the Indian team.

His most remarkable performance came in the Test format against England in 2014. India were yet to win a test away from home since playing in Lords in 2011.

With England in full control of the game at the home of cricket, Ishant came in and produced one of the spells of a lifetime. The entire crowd present at the Lord’s was blown away as Ishant ended the game with the figure of 7-74 to give MS Dhoni-led India a memorable victory.