The Indian all-rounder, Shardul Thakur said he was delighted after knowing that he managed to break Ian Botham’s record for the fastest Test fifty in England, which led to a dressing room banter after his heroics with the bat on Day 1 of the Oval Test against England. Shardul Thakur has been nicknamed ‘Beefy’ by the Indian players and head coach after Shardul’s counter-attacking spree to hit a fifty in just 31 balls, overtaking Beefy Botham on the list of batsmen with the fastest fifties in England in Tests.
India was reeling at 127 for 7 despite a Virat Kohli fifty on Day 1 of the 4th Test then came Shardul Thakur, who went on to smash 57 runs off 36 balls with the help of 7 fours and three monstrous hits. Shardul’s 63-run stand with tail-ender Umesh Yadav for the 8th wicket made sure India posted a respectable first-innings total after their big guns.
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Talking about his knock, Shardul Thakur said, “I was not aware of it (breaking Ian Botham’s record). But it’s always good to score important runs for the team. Yes, these guys are teasing me with his name. But I think it’s good to be compared with the greats of the game.”
Shardul revealed that he decided to take the attack to England bowlers after Rishabh Pant was dismissed early in the innings. The Mumbai all-rounder said there is no right way of getting runs and he was in the mood to go big on Thursday.
🎥 @imShard is happy with the love he's getting from his teammates & not to forget some legendary nicknames 😉
"Tula maanla re" Shardul 😃 #TeamIndia #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/iWA5ftJ44Q
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 3, 2021
The all-rounder explained, “When Rishabh got out, it was important for me to play such an innings. There are two ways, either you can be patient and bank on the partner to score runs or go and hit it. But at the end of the day, you have to score the runs. I think there is no right way of scoring runs. Runs are runs. Today was a day where I could connect properly. So I kept going for the runs.”
India fought back strong by dismissing Joe Root for 21 towards the end of the day’s play owing to a brilliant delivery from Umesh Yadav. However, Shardul came up with a guarded opinion, saying the match is in the balance and still a lot is there to be played in the remaining part of the 4th Test.
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Shardul Thakur explained, “Definitely, at one stage, we felt 150 or 170 as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. But 190 is a score, in the first innings, is going to count. Runs in the first innings are important and I think we have a chance,” he said. “I think this pitch is good for both batsmen and bowlers. If you keep pitching in the right areas, something is there in the pitch. But at the same time, the margin of error is less as the batsman can score runs.”
