The lanky 23-year-old is battling indifferent form and a
fragile ankle but was diligently practising a new signature after a
graphologist advised him to change the spelling of his name to 'Isshannt',
local media reported on Wednesday.
Graphology is the study of hand writing as expression of the
writer's character.
"I do not know how and why, but I'm more at peace now
since the signature change," the bowler was quoted as saying in a report
that appeared in Hindustan Times newspaper.
However, there was little evidence in the first test to
suggest the tactic had worked as Sharma toiled without success in Australia's
first innings but did claim a single victim in the home team's ongoing second
innings in Melbourne.
Despite generating plenty of speed, Sharma's problem could
be the amount of time he is devoting to perfecting his new signature.
"Instinctively I still end up writing my old signature
as it is hard to give up. But I'm working on it. I have so far exhausted about
20 notebooks practising.
"I haven't changed them in my bank account or official
papers as that is a long drawn-out process," the bowler added.
His father, however, was unaware of his son's actions.
"I'm not sure about it. He remains Ishant on paper and
I'm not aware if he has changed his autograph," Vijay Sharma told Reuters.
Even if he has, Sharma junior can hardly claim to be a
trend-setter.
Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, head of the
selection panel that picked Sharma for the four-test series, is also believed
to have added an extra lucky 'k' to his surname, although he would not confirm
the switch.
The same recipe for success prompted former all-rounder
Sanjay Bangar to spell his name 'Sunjoy' but his international career stalled
after he played 12 tests and 15 one-dayers between 2001-04.
The trend is much stronger in Bollywood, India's
movie-churning machine, where Rakesh Roshan is known for directing films with
titles beginning with 'K'.
Some other directors have thrown an additional letter into
film titles while quite a few A-list actors have inserted an extra 'a' in their
names in the hope that the extra vowel will result in extra income.
