5 things that changed between Ishant Sharma’s two five-wicket hauls at home in Tests

On Friday, Ishant Sharma marked his name in the Indian history by bowling the first over the day-night Test match between India and Bangladesh. Ishant not only bowled the first over but also the first maiden over and also picked the first wicket when he dismissed Imrul Kayes. He claimed four wickets in his second spell as he dismissed Mahmudullah, Ebadat Hossain, Mehidy Hasan and Nayeem Hasan. As a result, Ishant completed his 5-wicket haul which was only his 2nd 5-fer in this format on Indian soil.

Ishant Sharma’s maiden 5-wicket haul at home came way back in 2007 December. The speedster recorded figures of 5/118 in Pakistan’s first innings of Test match played in Bangalore. Interestingly, it was Ishant’s first Test match at home and only the 2nd of his career. This meant Ishant took a 5-fer in his maiden Test innings at home playing with the red ball and the first innings with the pink ball but nothing in between.

Here are the five things in cricket that changed in the course of Ishant Sharma’s two 5-fers at home:

5. Day-Night Test cricket didn’t exist

Ishant Sharma’s 2nd 5-wicket haul at home came in India’s first-ever day-night Test match. However, when Ishant got his 1st home 5-fer, the concept of day-night Test cricket did not exist. In fact, the first day-night first-class match played with pink-ball was in the 2009/10 season game between Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. The County Championship adopted this format later in 2011.

The game between Kent and Glamorgan hosted by Canterbury was played under the lights. In October 2012, the ICC permitted the day-night Test matches with respect to mutual agreement between the two teams. The first-ever D/N Test took place in November 2015 when Australia hosted New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval. The current India-Bangladesh Test is only the 12th day-night Test match.

Australia have won all of their five day-night Tests and are scheduled to play their sixth such encounter against Pakistan later this month in Adelaide.