However, a total of 141 wickets at an average almost 40 does not make for flattering reading.
Going into the final Test against Australia with just four wickets in this series, Ishant says his role is more of a containing bowler than a leading strike bowler.
"There is nothing much I can do in Indian conditions. My primary job has been to contain the batsmen and let the spinners attack. And I haven't got to bowl enough, except in Mohali," the local boy told reporters on Thursday, on the eve of the fourth Test.
The seamers were not expected to run through the Australian batting order but Bhuvneshwar Kumar has twice snared the Australian top three - once on a benign first day Hyderabad track and then on Day 3 Mohali pitch.
In his defence, Ishant said: "Bhuvi and I are different bowlers. He swings the new ball whereas the Indian conditions don't help me with the new ball. I need to wait for the ball to get old so that I can get some reverse swing."
His comments on Thursday were in sharp contrast to what he had said before India's home season started against England in November last year.
"For me, it's all about taking wickets now. It doesn't matter how frugal you have been throughout the day's play... you need to take wickets. I had become a bit of a one-dimensional bowler with my in-swingers. But now I have put in a conscious effort to get the ball to move away with the new ball," Ishant had said in October while preparing for a Ranji Trophy game against Uttar Pradesh.
Clearly, the out-swinger isn't coming out right and he has been forced to wait for the ball to reverse. The directive from the Indian think-tank might well be to stem the run rate, but both, the tall bowler and the team, would not mind a few more wickets against his name.
He got the reverse swing going to good effect only once and that too for a brief spell - late on the first day in Mohali. He has played a much more significant role against the same opposition twice earlier, bowling in same conditions.
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