Ishant Sharma (pronunciationⓘ; born 2 September 1988) is an Indian cricketer who has represented India in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.

[8] Ishant plays for Delhi in domestic cricket and has taken 68 wickets in 14 first-class games,[9][10] including a five-wicket haul against Baroda on the opening day of a match Delhi drew after failing to bowl Baroda out on the fourth day.

On the basis of his strong performance in Australia in 2008, Ishant Sharma was bought for a winning bid of $950,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders in the player auction for the Indian Premier League.

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

Sharma was left out in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne during the Border–Gavaskar Trophy as India retained their main fast bowlers, Zaheer Khan and RP Singh.

However, in January 2008 Sharma was called to represent India once again to replace the injured Zaheer Khan in the second Test at the SCG.

Sharma started the first day of the match strongly and was involved in a controversial decision from Steve Bucknor when Andrew Symonds nicked the ball to keeper MS Dhoni off his bowling but was given not out.

On the fourth day of the match, he bowled an exceptional spell to Australian captain Ricky Ponting that resulted in his wicket and helped India claim victory.

He was noted for achieving reverse swing on balls sometimes as young as eight overs, and along with senior opening bowler Zaheer Khan, troubled the touring Australians.

On 5 October 2010, Ishant helped VVS Laxman pull off a highly unlikely win over Australia by one wicket in the first Test in Mohali after India had fallen to 8/124 in pursuit of 205.

[23] In the 2011 IPL auction, Sharma was bought by the Deccan Chargers; he hoped that his performance in the competition would give him a chance to impress selectors and push for selection in India's ODI team.

[25] A month after the IPL, which was held in April and May, India toured the West Indies for five ODIs and three Tests.

[31][32] The second and third Tests ended in draws and India won the series 1–0;[33] Sharma was the leading wicket-taker on either side with 22 dismissals at an average of 16.86.

[37] During the series Sharma suffered an ankle injury and missed the ODI leg, but was sufficiently recovered to face the West Indies in November when India hosted them for three Tests.

Ishant Sharma has sustained an injury on his right hand during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton..

[62] Simons noted height was a factor in the length Sharma bowled, saying "For Ishant to hit the stumps, he has to pitch it fuller, and that means the batsman has more chance of keeping it out".

[61] Former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh identified two problems with Sharma's bowling action: his head drops when the ball is delivered and the position of his wrist varies.

Manjrekar went further, saying that "for all his talent and commitment he just does not take enough wickets"; when the remark was made in January 2012, Sharma had a bowling average of nearly 37 from 43 Tests.

My weapon was bounce and occasionally a bit of seam movement"[64] Ishant Sharma played for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.