Virender Sehwag welcomes ‘Burj Khalifa’ Ishant Sharma in Kings XI Punjab team - Hindustan Times
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Virender Sehwag welcomes ‘Burj Khalifa’ Ishant Sharma in Kings XI Punjab team

Hindustan Times | ByHT Correspondent
Apr 05, 2017 02:09 PM IST

Ishant Sharma, who went unsold in the Indian Premier League auctions, has been snapped up by Kings XI Punjab after Murali Vijay was ruled out of the tournament due to injury.

First a phone call and then a grand welcome. Virender Sehwag really knows how to play host in style as he welcomed India pace bowler Ishant Sharma into the Kings XI Punjab team for the 2017 Indian Premier League. (Full coverage IPL 2017)

Virender Sehwag welcomed Ishant Sharma into the Kings XI Punjab team in style for the 2017 Indian Premier League.(BCCI)
Virender Sehwag welcomed Ishant Sharma into the Kings XI Punjab team in style for the 2017 Indian Premier League.(BCCI)

On his Twitter handle, Sehwag termed Ishant Sharma a ‘distorted Burj Khalifa’ and put out one condition when he joined the team.

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Sehwag tweeted a photo of Ishant Sharma making Monkey faces. The image of Ishant went viral during the second Test between India and Australia when he made aggressive ‘monkey’ faces at Australian batsmen Matt Renshaw and Steve Smith. The photo inspired plenty of memes and it also inspired a challenge #IshantGameFace during the Ranchi Test.

Ishant Sharma created some aggressive ‘Monkey’ faces during the India vs Australia Test match in Bangalore. (BCCI)
Ishant Sharma created some aggressive ‘Monkey’ faces during the India vs Australia Test match in Bangalore. (BCCI)

In response, Ishant Sharma also took to Twitter and said that Virender Sehwag must make the same face when he arrives for practice.

Virender Sehwag replied back by stating that making that face will require one practice session alone.

Ishant Sharma, who played for Rising Pune Supergiants in the 2016 IPL, was released by the franchise and he surprisingly went unsold. In the Test series against Australia, he bowled with plenty of hostility. Following an injury to Murali Vijay, there was a vacancy in the Kings XI Punjab side and Sehwag decided to make a phone call which got Ishant into the picture.

“He (Viru bhai) called me and asked whether I was doing something or not. That was when I was first approached. I just want to play. It didn’t matter whether it was IPL or county. All I want to do is play good cricket for KXIP and win games,” the tall fast bowler stated

Kings XI Punjab, who ended up with the wooden spoon in the 2016 IPL, will start their campaign against Rising Pune Supergiant on April 8 in Indore.

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