Ishant Sharma picks up five wickets on County debut for Sussex

New Delhi: Getting his preparation for India's Test tour of England this July-August on track, Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma picked up a match haul of five wickets for Sussex on his debut in the County Championship against Warwickshire. 

While Sussex recruits Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer are busy in the Indian Premier League, Ishant has begun on a promising note for the team. The Indian speedster took 3/53 and 2/16, respectively, in the two Warwickshire innings. The match ended in a draw.

Sussex posted glimpses of Ishant's performance on Twitter video, with the caption: “Five wickets for @ImIshant on his @CountyChamp debut! Highlights from day four of our season opener vs. Warwickshire are available now. #gosbts”

Five wickets for @ImIshant on his @CountyChamp debut!

Highlights from day four of our season opener vs. Warwickshire are available now. #gosbts

https://t.co/dS7WoXhAyj pic.twitter.com/r3gx944P8C — Sussex CCC (@SussexCCC) April 17, 2018

Ishant is expected to play five matches for Sussex in the County Championship and the entire eight group-stage matches in the One-Day Cup.

Besides Ishant, Cheteshwar Pujara is also part of the championship this season playing for Yorkshire.

It has been BCCI's concerted effort to promote players' participation in county cricket as much as their respective schedule permits ahead of the England tour, which begins two months down the line. In that endeavour, the board has also reportedly allowed skipper Virat Kohli to miss the one-off Test match against Afghanistan beginning June 14 in Bengaluru.

Kohli has so far had a torrid time in Tests in England scoring just 134 runs in five matches at an average of 13.40.

Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin is also expected to play the top-flight championship in England after finishing his IPL duty on May 27.