Ishant Sharma reveals why he made fun of Steve Smith during the 2017 Bengaluru Test

Ishant Sharma revealed why he had come up with a hilarious gesture against Steve Smith during the second Test match in Bengaluru when Australia had toured India in early 2017. Ishant's comical gesture had become viral back then and had even left his captain Virat Kohli in splits. Meanwhile, Smith was seen giggling as well.

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'Just trying to upset him': Ishant Sharma

While speaking on a segment called ‘Open Nets with Mayank’ on Bcci.tv., the veteran pacer went on to say that he was just trying to upset the former Australian skipper and was thinking how to do it as he wanted to get Smith out of the comfort zone and make him uncomfortable. Ishant then mentioned that it was a close game and that people tend to do things after getting swayed by emotions. The Delhi cricketer then mentioned that one does anything to upset the batsmen and he did whatever he could from his side to upset Steve. 

Furthermore, the senior speedster added that the top-ranked Test batsman upsets the bowlers a lot and they (Team India) knew that if they succeeded in dismissing him, then they could go on to win the match.

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The Bengaluru Test match 

It was a must-win match for India in the four-match series after they had suffered a heavy defeat in the opening Test at Pune. The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first. Nonetheless, they were bundled out for a paltry 188 despite a solid 90 from KL Rahul. The Aussies, on the other hand, managed 276.

In their second innings, Virat Kohli & Co. disappointed with the bat once again as they were reduced to 120/4. When it all seemed to be going once again, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane added 118 runs for the fifth wicket stand as India went on to score 274 to set up a 118-run target. In reply, the visitors could not tackle the greatness of Ravichandran Ashwin and were bundled out for 112. 

Ashwin picked 6/41 as the Virat Kohll-led side won the contest by 75 runs to level the series 1-1.