Shardul Thakur deserved winning the Player of the Match award: Rohit Sharma

Indian batter Rohit Sharma reckoned that Shardul Thakur deserved getting the Player of the Match award after Team India’s 157-run win over England in the fourth Test at the Kennington Oval in London. In the match, Shardul picked up three wickets, including that of English skipper Joe Root in the second innings when the Three Lions were chasing 368 runs to win.

Shardul also got the prized wicket of Rory Burns in the fourth innings when the left-hander and Haseeb Hameed had stitched together a 100-run stand for the opening wicket. The Nagpur-born Rohit mentioned that the timely scalps from Shardul helped India make a comeback in the encounter.

“It was a match-winning effort from Shardul Thakur. He deserved winning the Player of the Match award as well. He gave us crucial breakthroughs in critical times,” Rohit was quoted as saying after the game.

“I wouldn’t say we were under extreme pressure, but with England at 100 for no loss, getting the important wicket was a great effort. Then getting the all-important wicket of Joe Root was a brilliant effort as well,” he stated.

He has worked hard on his batting: Rohit Sharma

Rohit also lauded Shardul for showing his prowess with the bat in hand. In India’s first innings, Shardul came to bat with the score at 117 for six in 49.5 overs. However, instead of letting the pressure get the better of him, Thakur smashed 57 off 36 with the help of seven fours and three sixes.

Rohit said that had Shardul not contributed with the bat in hand, India could have ended 50-60 runs short of where they eventually got. The limited-overs vice-captain said that Shardul has set his goals clear regarding his batting in red-ball cricket.

The 34-year-old Rohit was clear cut in saying that Thakur’s half-century in the first innings helped India gain the needed momentum in the Test match.

“Then, how can we forget his batting. To score around 50 off around 30 balls says a lot. He has worked hard on his batting and I’ve seen him closely over the years. He loves his batting; he wants to prove a point that he can score runs,” Rohit stated.

“It was a momentum-changing innings as well. In the first-innings, we could easily have been all-out for 130-140, but the way he batted got us to a decent score. I got the POTM award, but I felt Shardul should have been a part of that as well,” he added.