Australia vs India: Shardul Thakur smashes Nathan Lyon for a six to bring up maiden Test fifty

Shardul Thakur made his Test debut way back in 2018 against the West Indies in Hyderabad. However, after bowling only 10 balls, he was ruled out due to an injury. From there on, he had to wait for more than two years to get his next chance in whites for Team India. He wasn’t a first-choice as a bowler and got into the eleven due to injury concerns in the national camp.

He is currently a part of the fourth and final Test against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane. The 29-year-old is in the team, primarily for his bowling, but he has shown that he’s no mug with the bat in hand. He came to bat with the visiting team in a fair amount of trouble, losing six wickets for a mere 186 runs on the board. Rishabh Pant was the man dismissed when he strolled in.

Shardul Thakur smashing the ball around

India were still trailing by 183 runs with not much batting left in the tank. But then, he helped India make a comeback, putting on a partnership of 123 runs along with Washington Sundar. The pair kept frustrating the Australian bowlers for quite a while. Thakur was the more dominant between the two during the partnership as Sundar played the sheet-anchor’s role.

Thakur scored 67 runs off 115 balls with the help of two fours and one six. He was attacking to the extent that he didn’t mind taking the aerial route while reaching his half-century. In the first ball of the 96th over, the right-hander decided to take on Lyon.

Shardul danced down the track and brought up his maiden Test half-century in style off a mere 90 balls. However, his stay in the middle was cut short by Pat Cummins. The Aussie speedster bowled a good-length ball and the ball rattled Thakur’s woodwork.

However, Shardul enacted his role with precision and put India in a comfortable position. The Aussies, without a shred of a doubt, were relieved after seeing Shardul’s back. Nevertheless, Sundar kept grinding hard in the middle and showed his class and calibre.

Here’s the video

Reaching fifty in his style, Shardul Thakur is bossing in Australia. pic.twitter.com/Gv9nGOXeyM

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 17, 2021