It's 2008 Perth Test, India need to win the game if they have to stay alive in the Border-Gavaskar trophy. A 19-year-old youngster Ishant Sharma is creating ripples. He's tall, he bowls 150 clicks, has superstar-esque hairs, ability to take wickets, his knees are pumping, deliveries breathing fire, it's a spectacle on the world's fastest pitch, albeit by an Indian, a nation with mediocre medium pacers. In his long spell of seven - imagine seven consecutive overs of high-end pace bowling - he is making one of the greatest Test batsmen Ricky Ponting dance to his tunes at his place and in front of his people. 

From that trolled, inconsistent Ishant to the one on whom one can write how badly he's going to be missed, to the tune of it being more than the 'Virat Kohli' of world cricket, reflects his beautifully underrated journey. Getting back to the point, team India can do without Kohli the batsman but not Ishant the bowler, especially Down Under. He has been simply phenomenal in the last three years in Test cricket.

Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are more talked about than Ishant but he has the best average, strike-rate and economy for any Indian bowler away from home. In fact, in SENA countries as well, he's the best in aforementioned metrics.

Not only just India, but Ishant has the second best Test average for bowlers in the last three years if we take a minimum of 50 wickets into consideration. 

What Ishant brings to the table? 

Ishant Sharma has the ability to deliver excruciatingly long spells with pin-point accuracy. He hardly misses his line and lengths. He complements Shami and Bumrah exceptionally well and doesn't let the pressure evaporate. Not only that, if any of the opening bowlers are having an off day, he holds up one end tightly. In Australia after the Kookaburra ball goes soft, there is hardly any swing or seam and Ishant is the perfect foil to deal with such situations with his wealth of experience and the many tricks up his sleeve. He bowls the hard overs better than anyone else in the team. 

In India's historic Test series win in 2018/19 in Australia, Sharma had taken 11 wickets in three Tests at 23.82 and had formed a lethal trio with Bumrah and Shami, who took 21 and 16 wickets in four Tests at 17 and 26.18 respectively. India batsmen had put runs on the board even in the 2014/15 tour Down Under yet they lost the series but they got together such a fabulous pace battery together last time that resulted in their first ever Test series win in Australia.

No like-for-like replacement for Sharma

As good as Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini have been in domestic cricket, they lack the experience to play in such a high pressure series with a hostile crowd and an attacking Aussie batting gunning for their head as soon as the seasoned Shami and Bumrah are off their spells. They are aggressive bowling options and are anything but like-for-like replacements for Ishant, who has been there and done it all and wouldn't get intimidated by Warner and Smith's presence. Moreover, Bumrah and Shami are already featuring in the white-ball series, thus in case of any unfortunate injury, things can go downhill pretty fast for the tourists given the unreliable options that they have sans an experienced Ishant.

Kohli's absence can still be compensated 

Undoubtedly, Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be a big miss this series as he could have added a lot of firepower to the batting. But, in Australia, batting is easier than in other SENA countries like England or South Africa. In fact, in India's last Test series win in Australia, Virat was India's fourth best batsman as Pujara, Pant, Agarwal ended with a better average in the series. In the two Tests that India won, Virat made 119 runs in four innings at a meager 29.75 while Pujara accumulated 300 runs at 75. So, if India can win the series with such a minimal Kohli contribution in the Tests they won, why not without him? Pujara, Agarwal, Pant and Rahane have a great record in Australia.

Even his replacement is likely to be a mighty talented Shubman Gill, whose wrist-work often reminds people of the Indian skipper. He has been patiently waiting for his chances and given his great red-ball track record, it won't be much of a surprise if he graduates to the Test level like Kohli did in the 2011/12 Aussie tour.

As far as captaincy is concerned, Rahane might not be verbally aggressive but is very positive in his approach and reserves his aggression for selection calls, planning and tactics. He is more than a handy replacement for Kohli as a leader, whose captaincy is generally questionable.

As unpopular as it might be, the ‘workhorse Ishant’ has certainly trumped the ‘mighty king Kohli’ if we weigh up all factors and logically see what impacts India more. The beauty of life is much like cinema - even the sidekicks at times prove to be more significant than a hero if a given script suits their strengths and brings out their best.