The entire nation and the cricket fraternity were left stunned when on February 20, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma was not bought by any of the franchises in the Indian Premier League 2017 auction. But another surprise came just a day before the beginning of the grand Indian cricket tournament. Ishant was picked up Preity Zinta-owned Kings XI Punjab at the eleventh hour in the squad to sharpen its bowling attack.
A base price of Rs 2 crore was fixed for Ishant in the auctions but as at that point of time, no team showed interest in buying this pacer from Delhi. But it was the Punjab coach Virender Sehwag who played the last but a massive move ahead of the beginning of the tournament.
And the moment when Ishant finally became a part of Punjab for the current season, Virender Sehwag left no stone unturned to welcome this Indian bowler in his own witty but yet hilarious way. He took to his official Twitter handle and wrote a welcome post along with his photo. He wrote,”Welcoming the Hairy&Slightly distorted Burj Khalifa @ImIshant to the @lionsdenkxip family.Plz Welcome him by making such a face wherever u r.”
Welcoming the Hairy&Slightly distorted Burj Khalifa @ImIshant to the @lionsdenkxip family.Plz Welcome him by making such a face wherever u r pic.twitter.com/zThZP8IUdW
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 4, 2017
Sehwag specially chose this particular picture and the reason is pretty understood.
In response to Sehwag’s post, Ishant expressed his gratitude and he too replied in the same mood. He wrote,”Thanks paaji !!! And first you have to make the same expression tomorrow in the practice session.”
Thanks paaji !!! And first you have to make the same expression tomorrow in the practice session https://t.co/hTZTPtC9sq
— Ishant Sharma (@ImIshant) April 4, 2017
The episode didn’t end there itself as Virender Sehwag had much more to describe the tallest pacer of team India. “That’s the difference Burj Khalifa ji.We have to “Make” that expression. Making that expression itself is a practice session,” Sehwag wrote again.
That’s the difference Burj Khalifa ji.We have to “Make” that expression. Making that expression itself is a practice session. https://t.co/kly3oG3G8x
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 4, 2017
Ishant Sharma himself confirmed this information and said,”A couple of days back, Viru bhai called up and asked if I am free. That’s how it worked out.”
In recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia, Ishant Sharma was the senior most player in the team and also had a phenomenal performance with the bowl. His spat with the Aussie skipper Steve Smith caught all the attention during the series and his funny face earned him huge fame.
