'Looks like he owns the England bowlers' - Twitter goes in frenzy as Shardul Thakur notches up second consecutive half-century

In a fixture defined by Rohit Sharma’s maiden overseas Test century, Shardul Thakur has displayed a brand of Test cricket batting so sumptuous that would easily make the Sharmas, Kohlis and Roots proud. Thakur, included into the team primarily as a bowler, notched up his second consecutive half-century at The Oval to put India in a position of strength.

If his 36-ball 57 in the first was aggressive, the 60 off 72 in the second was simply class personified. It was Thakur’s counterattacking 8th wicket alliance with Umesh Yadav after India was inserted to bat that took the team to 191 in the first innings; India was struggling 6/117 at one stage.

When he entered to bat for the second time, the situation was not as grim but was tricky nonetheless – India were 312/6, having very recently lost skipper Virat Kohli for 44. And Shardul ensured to put a high price on his wicket again while adding alongside Rishabh Pant 100 runs for the 7th wicket.

Thakur, in his well-paced knock, struck seven fours and a six, as he exploited fine batting conditions at The Oval on a sunny day to perfection. He was assisted in no small cause by Pant, who scored a half-century of his own, showing the much-needed and elusive composure with the bat in this series. But so staggeringly impressive was Thakur’s batsmanship that he overshadowed Pant for the majority part of his stay.

The duo played attacking cricket but ensured to not compromise on the front of sensibility, putting the bad balls to the boundary while finding enough gaps to not let the scoreboard stagnate. Of the many crisp strokes that Thakur effected, the swivel pull off James Anderson towards backward square and a drive against the same bowler down the ground, with the straightest show of the bat, were the most delightful.

To any question that the England bowlers posed to him, he had a straight bat to answer them. Anything full was driven, while if the ball was dug in short – or short of a length – Thakur transferred his weight perfectly, making use of the crease to maneuver the ball on either side of the wicket. However, more than half his runs came in the V between long-on and long-off.

His knock was cut short by England skipper Joe Root, who made him edge one to first skip Craig Overton. But his brilliant display meant that India went into ascendancy despite a nervy first session that saw them lose wickets of overnight batters Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane, both trapped lbw by Chris Woakes, and Kohli, who edged Moeen Ali to the first slip. While the game is yet not finished, Thakur’s effort seems to have thrown an Indian defeat off the table.