India came into the 2nd Test match against South Africa with a 1-0 lead in the series and while it was the batsmen who shone in the first game, the second one has been highlighted by one of their newer bowlers. India was bowled out for 202 in their 1st innings and it was definitely going to take a special bowling performance to get them back in the game, which was delivered by Shardul Thakur.
He picked the first three wickets to fall for the hosts and then later in the day went on to record his first ever 5-fer for India in the longest format. His effort was outstanding right through the day and was well rewarded for it. Each time captain KL Rahul called him on to bowl, he was successful and eventually was brought back to pick up the last two wickets as well.
Shardul Thakur career best 7/61
He cleaned up the tail and with that, ended with the best figures in his Test career so far, picking 7/61. Remember, this is only his 6th Test match so far and to pick 7 wickets in an innings is not a small achievement. It’s not too often that bowlers pick 7 wickets in a game, let alone pacers doing the same. It also became the best Test figures for an Indian against South Africa in this format.
The tail was adding on a few vital runs towards the end and India needed to stop the bleeding soon. With Thakur coming back into the attack and taking the final two wickets in a single over, he made sure South Africa was bowled out for 229, ending the 1st innings with a slender lead of 27 runs. The man with the golden arm he’s called, and his figures go past Harbhajan Singh’s 7/120 against SA way back in 2010/11.
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With a small lead, SA won’t be too comfortable as they still have to bat last on this wicket. As for India, they will be happy about their performance in the 3rd session of Day 2 in this match. In case they have a batting collapse, we’re sure to see Thakur contributing with the bat as well and it’s not for nothing that he’s referred to as ‘Lord Thakur’.
Additionally, he also becomes the first Indian to take a seven-wicket haul at Johannesburg in Test cricket. Last month during the 2021 New Zealand tour of India, Ajaz Patel did something similar but went on to create history by becoming just the third person in the world to pick up 10 wickets in an innings, which you can read about here.
Coming back to India in South Africa, the visitors will now look to build a hefty lead batting in the 2nd innings and go on to wrap up the Test series 2-0, before playing the final Test and then a series of three ODIs as well. For similar updates from 2021 India tour of South Africa, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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