Shardul Thakur gets a kick from prankster Virat Kohli before making his debut

25-year old Shardul Thakur became the 218th player to represent India in ODIs. The Maharashtra born pacer receive his Indian cap from head coach Ravi Shastri. Shardul’s team-mates, including skipper Virat Kohli were present at the time Shastri presented the cap to him. The special moment was captured on the camera and the video was shared on BCCI.tv. Interestingly, if you watch the video, you will see one of his team mate kicking the debutant. The prankster was none other than the skipper himself.

Virat Kohli saw the lighter side of it and was seen kicking Shardul, as he received the cap. This was not the first time when Kohli has done something like this. Previously, during a Test match, Kohli caught spinner Jayant Yadav off-guard, and it was quite an embarrassing for the latter. Thakur bowled seven overs and picked up a wicket in the 4th ODI. India piled up 375/5 on the board after Rohit Sharma and Kohli scored their respective hundreds and took the visitors to a comfortable mark, before MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey did the needful towards the end.

Shardul Thakur likely to retain his place

Sri Lanka once again went down without much fight, as they were bundled out for 207 in 42.4 overs. Only Angelo Mathews was the stand out performer for the hosts, as the right-hander scored a stroke-filled 70. Jasprit Bumrah paired with  Shardul and picked up 2 in the match. Playing his first game of the series, Kuldeep Yadav too chipped in with a couple of sticks. Kohli was awarded the man of the match for his sublime knock of 131 with the bat.

Thakur is likely to retain his place for the final ODI on Sunday. It will be interesting to see if he can make early in-roads and help his side win the final ODI. Sri Lanka, having lost the Test series 3-0, and trailing in the ongoing ODIs by 4-0, will look to earn some pride and seal a consolation victory.

Shardul Thakur’s dream come true moment https://t.co/3i8VnXbAzy

— Virat Kohli (@Cricvids1) September 1, 2017