“Still remember this day from the bottom of my heart” - 2014 Lord’s Test hero Ishant Sharma on anniversary of famous triumph

On this day in 2014 (July 21), veteran Indian pacer Ishant Sharma bowled the team to a famous Test triumph against England at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.

The tall fast bowler registered figures of seven for 74 in the second innings as the visitors bowled out the Englishmen for 223 after setting them a target of 319. India's impressive 95-run victory was their first at the venue in Tests since 1986.

On Thursday, Ishant reacted to a post which recalled his seven-wicket haul at Lord’s in the 2014 Test win. Sharing an Insta story, the 33-year-old commented:

“Still remember this day from the bottom on my heart”

The standout feature of Ishant’s bowling performance in the Test was how he trapped England’s batters with a short-ball strategy. In a rather surreal occurrence, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior, Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Stuart Broad all fell to rising deliveries.

England fielded first after winning the toss, after which Ajinkya Rahane’s 103 guided India to a competitive 295 in the first innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then claimed six for 82 in England’s first innings, but the hosts posted 319, courtesy of Gary Ballance’s 110.

In India’s second innings, opener Murali Vijay’s defiant 95 and half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja (68) and Bhuvneshwar (52) lifted the team to 342. Defending a target of 319, Ishant’s brilliance then led the visitors to a rare Test triumph in England.

The experienced pacer was dropped from the Indian team following the home series against New Zealand towards the end of last year. He hasn’t been recalled to the national side since.

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When Ishant Sharma recalled Team India’s COVID-19 scare in England

Ishant was part of the Indian Test squad for the series in England in 2021. India were 2-1 ahead in the series when the last Test had to be canceled due to COVID-19 cases in the Indian camp.

Recalling an incident from the tour, Ishan told sports presenter Jatin Sapru a few weeks back:

"We all were pretty scared during that time. I clearly remember, during the Oval Test, Ravi bhai was in the dressing room and he was not able to talk properly. There was his book launch and we thought he had caught cold because things were normal in England at that time.

"He was also looking normal it was just that he was not able to talk properly. Bharat Arun looked all right and even R Sridhar was totally fine. Then we got to know through the Rapid Antigen Test that the three of them were positive. Actually we were scared at that time.”

One of India's two Test wins on the England tour last year was registered at Lord’s by 151 runs.

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