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The curious coincidence of two Sharmas

Apart from their surname, former India pacer Chetan Sharma and Ishant Sharma have something more in common. Both have been the pick of the bowlers in India's last two Test wins at Lord's. The former reflects on the win 28 years ago and the one fashioned on Monday

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Ishant Sharma’s 7/74 is the all-time best Indian performance at the Lord’s Cricket Ground
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One Sharma paved the way for India's first Test victory at Lord's Cricket Ground way back in 1986. It took 28 years and another Sharma to replicate that feat.

The diminutive Chetan Sharma rocked the England top-order with a burst of 5/64 to have his name on the famous honours board that every cricketer aspires for at Lord's. His victims included the Who's Who of England batting – Graham Gooch, David Gower, Allan Lamb, Mike Gatting – and Paul Downton, who is more known for ousting Kevin Pietersen in his capacity as England and Wales Cricket Board managing director.

The tall Ishant came up with India's best bowling performance (7/74) at the historic 200-year-old ground on Monday and placed India in a best chance to win the series. India have certainly come a long way since their last Lord's outing in 2011 when Zaheer Khan broke down after just 13.3 overs, prompting MS Dhoni to remove his wicketkeeping pads and roll his arm over when the ball was still new.
Now, without Zaheer in the side, Ishant has proved that he has it in him to lead the young bowling attack and show the way.

"In 1986, we had Kapil Dev to guide us through. Now, Ishant has to take it in him to lead the way and come up with such inspired performances," said Chetan to dna on Tuesday. "Ishant should come up with such performances on a regular basis. I won't say he has to do it innings after innings. If he does it in three out of five Test matches, he has performed."

For all his 57-Test experience, it is often debated why Ishant cannot produce such devastating spells like he did on Monday or in Trent Bridge in which he picked up three wickets in that burst between lunch and tea on Day 3.

Chetan, who played in 23 Tests and finished with 61 wickets, said: "It was a great match to see Ishant's aggression, which we wanted to see from him for a long time. He holds the key to India's bowling. It was nice to see Indian fast bowlers give it back to the opposition with those bouncers."

Chetan could understand how elated Ishant is to have his name on the Lord's honours board. "It is a dream for any player to play at Lord's. When we went to the dressing room, we saw the names of legends on the board. Every youngster wants his name there. To win a game and your name going up on that list is one of the biggest achievements. I was very happy when my name was up there.

"We had seen 1983 World Cup final triumph on TV. So, for me personally to go and play there in 1986, to go through the Long Room, pass by the Member's stand and on to the ground, it was a tremendous experience and the confidence level automatically goes up," Chetan, 48, said.

It is this confidence level that Ishant and India should take into the remaining three Tests, the next one coming up at Southampton on Sunday. "Way back in 1986, after winning at Lord's, the confidence we got was immense. We never looked back after that. We thrashed England in the second Test at Headingley (by 279 runs) and came close to winning in the third at Birmingham (where he took 10 wickets). We were on top after that Lord's win.

"This is a very young side and their morale will only be sky high after winning on Monday. They should also cash in on the fact that England are struggling, their wicket-keeper Matt Prior has stepped down, their captain Alastair Cook is struggling. The win has shown that this team is difficult to beat. Also, England are on a fix as to what type of pitches to prepare. If it is bowler-friendly, they are exposed by the Indians. Dhoni and Co. will definitely go for the kill. The pressure is on England," Chetan said.

The 95-run win will give India the edge in the remaining three Tests and gives Dhoni and Co. a strong chance to win the series in the presence of among many others, former captains Kapil Dev of 1986 (2-0) and Rahul Dravid of 2007 (1-0), the last two times India won a rubber there.

With Ishant having shown the way, though initially reluctant to do so but did it after being egged upon by his captain, India will not think twice to bounce out the opposition and will be eager to do so in Australia later in the year. India came so close to winning in South Africa and New Zealand last season but will now be pumped up, having gone 1-0 up.

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