Following the West Indies tour, India experienced an eight-match losing streak in away Tests. The squad traveled to England for four tests in July and August. Inflicted a 4-0 thrashing over India, displacing India as the top-ranked Test team. Sharma took 11 wickets at an average of over 60 in all four matches. Ishant toured England in 2006 with the India Under-19s and Pakistan in 2006-07. He represented India in three youth tests and six youth One-Day Internationals. Ishant Sharma was purchased by the Kolkata Knight Riders for a winning offer of $950,000 based on his good performance in Australia in 2008. Due to the injuries to India's frontline pacers Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, and Sreesanth, Sharma was called back to the side for the third Test during Pakistan's December 2007 tour to India. During the third test in Bangalore, Sharma took five wickets. This performance earned him a spot in India's team for the Australia tour. Following the West Indies tour, India experienced an eight-match losing streak in away Tests. The squad traveled to England for four tests in July and August. Inflicted a 4-0 thrashing over India, displacing India as the top-ranked Test team. Sharma took 11 wickets at an average of over 60 in all four matches. Sharma was left out of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne as India kept their top fast bowlers, Zaheer Khan and RP Singh. However, in January 2008, Sharma was called up to replace the injured Zaheer Khan in the second test at the SCG.