A week ago, Ishant Sharma was spitting fire. His lethal spell left Bangladesh without any hope of survival. He followed it up with a ruthless statement to declare India’s superiority over their neighbours.

Sharma stared at Sabbir Rahman, ordered him to not retaliate with his finger on the lips when the Bangladeshi stared back and in the next over his reverse-swing wrapped the batsman’s pads in front of the wicket. Adjudged leg before, Rahman walked back. Sharma sent him off with words not very kind. It was the kind of aggression the 28-year-old is now known for. It is the kind of aggression that would befit the leader of India’s pace-bowling attack.

Mahmudullah had been Bangladesh’s top scorer as they attempted to resist defeat in their maiden Test on Indian soil. He had taken the attack to the Indian spinners. Sharma decided to step up the pace. He banged the ball short and tucked him up with a chest-high leg-stump bouncer. All the visiting all-rounder could do was top-edge it to long leg. Any hope that Bangladesh carried had fallen with the fall of Mahmudullah’s wicket.

No place for an ultra-aggressive Ishant

Aggression on the field had sealed another Test triumph for India. It was now time for Sharma to let out a salvo of verbal shots. “We are the No.1 side and we have to show. We are playing against Bangladesh and have to show them why we are the No.1 side in the world,” he thundered after the triumph.

For the experienced bowler troubled by injuries lately, the script appeared to have fallen back in place. But seven days later, modifications were made to the script.

Over 350 players from across the globe went under the hammer in the 2017 Indian Premier League auction in Bangalore on Monday. The eight teams paid hefty amounts to acquire the services of unknown Indian pacers – T Natarajan, Aniket Choudhary, Basil Thampi, Mohammed Siraj. The franchises even picked players from Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. But, Ishant Sharma, who completes a decade of cricket for India in May and was one of the orchestrators of India’s latest victory over Bangladesh, was not wanted by even a single franchise of the Indian Premier League.

Sharma’s career had seen a few crests and troughs. But for the pacer, who has played 107 Twenty20s, this was a shocker. For the first time since the inception of the glitzy T20 league, the 28-year-old from Delhi was left without a team.

Irfan Pathan and RP Singh were among the other experienced Indian pacers who found no takers. But, they have been away from the international circuit for a few years. That was not the case with Sharma. He may have faced increased competition from the likes Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and a resurgent Ashish Nehra, but he did not fade away into oblivion.

Does Ishant lack Twenty20 skills?

The problem with Sharma could be that his last game in coloured clothes for India came in January 2016. It was an One-Day International on India’s tour Down Under. His last Twenty20 International came three and a half years ago. And, in nine years he has made only 14 appearances in the shortest format.

Sharma has been a regular in Test cricket for the country. He even sits among the top-10 of wicket-takers in the history of Test cricket for India with 215 scalps. But white-ball cricket requires a different skill set. A spell of length balls with the moving red cherry can trouble batsmen. But, a similar length in a T20 game with the boundaries pulled in could be the kind of gift batsmen dream of.

A lot of Sharma’s success in Test cricket has achieved after he has stuck to a consistent line and length outside off. But the same is easy fodder for the batsmen in T20 cricket. The other weapon the pacer has developed is his ability to reverse the older red ball. However, the shorter duration of T20 cricket leaves no scope for reverse swing.

Unless Sharma develops his slower ball further or manages to sharpen his yorker, it could be difficult for the lanky pacer to regain his one-day mojo. At the moment, he sails in the same boat as Cheteshwar Pujara.

Pujara is one of the most dependable Indian batsmen in the Tests. He is India’s rock at number three. But five ODIs is all that he has played for India in the blues. A compact batsman, who can survive at the crease for hours, it is difficult to imagine Pujara providing too many crowd catches. It was no surprise then that the Saurashtra batsman failed to grab a spot under the IPL sun this year as well.

But, apart from being typecast as a Test specialist, what would have gone against Ishant is his price tag. Pujara went unsold with a lowly base price of R50 lakh. The Delhi pacer, on the other hand, gambled and priced himself at Rs 2 crore.

A high base price

Ishant’s price tag surprised the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, Gautam Gambhir. “I was surprised to see Ishant Sharma’s base price. I think it was too high,” he expressed during a byte to the broadcaster during the break. He went on to explain how an all-rounder like Ben Stokes could be worth a higher price because he would contribute with both bat and ball, but it was difficult for the teams to shell out Rs 2 crore for Ishant, whose contribution would be limited to a mere four overs in the game.

But, there are also spells like the one Sharma bowled for Delhi against Jammu & Kashmir in the Syed Mushtaq Ali last month. Five runs is all the batsmen could score from his five overs, as he strangled the opponents. The spell allowed Delhi to script a stroll across the line. The spell is a reminder that if a backdoor entry does come by for Sharma in the form of an injury or a pullout in the upcoming IPL season, he could still be of value to a team that picks him.

For the time being, Sharma can have alternate plans – like a stint with a county during the period. But it is essential for him to shrug off the disappointment of the IPL snub. For, he will be called upon to run in against Steve Smith’s team next week onward in the four-Test series. And when his time comes, with the ball he is known to be a specialist of, India will expect him to spew venom, once again. India will need Sharma to terrorise the Australian batsmen with the ball, actions and words.