India's most senior pacer Ishant Sharma said that he wants to put his best foot forward against Australia in the Test series as this could be his last tour of Down Under.

When asked about Rahul's string of low scores, the coach dropped a hint that he is being seen as a long-term investment.

One of the main reasons is believed to be Dhawan's selection in the Test team while Ishant (ankle) and Ashwin (groin) are racing against time to get fit.

Ishant (3/28) picked up three wickets, while Jasprit Bumrah (2/41) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/57) struck twice each to trigger England's collapse.

Jasprit Bumrah continued the strong start to his Test career, moving to a career-best 487 points while retaining 37th position after his fifth Test.

On Sunday, the 45-year-old legend wished Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma with a witty tweet on his 30th birthday.

Sharma bagged seven wickets in the lung-opener against England at Birmingham, including a five-for in the second innings.

After the day 3 play, Sharma admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Jeff Crowe of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees.

Ishant picked up five wickets for just 51 runs and is considered as his best bowling spell till date. The 29-year old fast bowler guided Indian team to bowl out England in just 180 runs on Day 3.

Ishant played four matches for Sussex in the County Championship Division Two earlier this year, scalping an impressive 15 wickets and even scoring a half-century.

India lost five batsmen before skipper Virat Kohli (43) and Dinesh Karthik (18) combined for a crucial unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership.

While Ishant took five wickets, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin scalped three as England added 171 runs to their overnight score of nine for one.

Kohli admitted that he would have loved to take even a slender lead over England before his team fell short of matching their score by 13 runs.

Ahead of the opening Test starting in Birmingham on Wednesday, he also said that as per the skill-set, both teams are at par.

Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma shared four wickets between them as Essex batsmen made India toil hard by reaching 237 for five on the second day.

With 238 wickets in 82 Test matches, Ishant is the most capped player in the current Indian Test team and is ready to lead the pace attack comprising of Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.

The maestro said even though India have had some quality seamers, they never had the "luxury" of such a varied battery.   

After going unsold at the IPL auction, the 29-year-old pacer was signed by Sussex for the first two months of the English County season.

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The Sussex County will be getting Ishant's services from April 4 to June 4, making him available for the first five fixtures in the County Championship and all eight Royal London One-Day Cup group matches.