Shardul Thakur rushed through South Africa’s inexperienced batting lineup on Day 2 of the Johannesburg Test. Thakur broke partnerships whenever the stand-in skipper KL Rahul handed him the ball. The under-rated seamer in India’s lethal bowling lineup took seven wickets for 61 runs to create history and get many records in his name.
The 30-year-old’s 7/61 is the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler against South Africa in Test cricket. Thakur bettered teammate Ravichandran Ashwin’s record of 7/66 which he created in Nagpur in 2015. Also, he bettered recently retired Harbhajan Singh’s bowling figures of 7/120 he achieved in 2011 in Cape Town. On the other hand, the best bowling figures for an Indian seamer in South Africa conditions previously belonged to Javagal Srinath who registered 6/76 in Port Elizabeth.
The bowling all-rounder joined the list of Indian bowlers who have taken a fifer or more at the venue. Anil Kumble, Srinath, S Sreesanth, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are the other five bowlers to take a fifer in Johannesburg.
The Maharashtra-born pacer also equalled former English fast bowler Matthew Hoggard’s record of best bowling figures by a touring bowler at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Hoggard took 7/61 in the fourth innings of the Test match after taking a fifer in the previous innings.
Thakur achieved a personal best as well since he started playing competitive cricket. 7/61 is his best bowling figures across all formats. His previous best bowling figures in First-Class cricket were 6/31. This is also his first five-wicket haul in red-ball cricket in his sixth Test.
Thakur’s seven-wicket haul helped India bundled out hosts for 229 and restrict the first innings lead to a mere 27. He was handed the ball after an hour in the first session on Day 2. Thakur provided the major breakthrough by getting skipper Dean Elgar out followed by half-centurion Keegan Petersen. He broke Proteas batting lineup’s back by dominating middle-order batters and later returned to wrap up the innings and get the record in his name.
