India vs South Africa, 2nd Test: Courageous Shardul Thakur shows the way | Cricket News – Times of India

If pundits had their way, Shardul Thakur might not have been playing the Wanderers Test. But the Indian team management stuck with him ahead of Umesh Yadav — a tempting option on this pitch — and are reaping the rewards.
The Mumbai paceman was the stand-out performer for India with his first five-wicket haul (7/61) in Tests. Shardul is the fourth pacer in the team and he came on to bowl as late as the 36th over of the innings. He bowled one ball before that to finish a Mohammed Siraj over when the paceman limped off with a hamstring pull.
It’s not easy to make an impression coming on so late with the Kookaburra ball, which loses its seam quickly. The opposition batters were well entrenched. But Shardul, in an inspired spell before lunch, got three wickets that brought India right back.

Lakshmipathy Balaji, Shardul’s bowling coach in the Chennai Super Kings team, made an interesting analogy.
“Shardul reminds me of Abdul Razzaq in the late 1990s Pakistan team. They had a brilliant pace attack and opposition teams found it very difficult to get runs against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. So when Razzaq came in to bowl, the opposition hoped to get a few runs and the wickets would come,” Balaji told TOI.
It was pretty much the case on Tuesday too with the South Africans hoping to get a few runs after surviving the morning onslaught by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. But Shardul didn’t look to bang it in short, bowled the fuller length, lulled Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen to a false sense of confidence and got the two wickets.

Even in the second session, Temba Bavuma, just after completing his half-century, felt he could take a chance against Shardul’s pace, which is around the 130 kmph mark. So he decided to give him the charge and was caught down the legs by Rishabh Pant.
“The best thing about Shardul is his courage. He is not afraid to pitch it up and there are days when he goes for runs. But then there are days when he gets quite a few wickets together and turns a game on its head,” Balaji said.

That’s what Shardul did at the Gabba last year, taking seven wickets which set up one of India’s greatest Test wins. He chipped in with crucial wickets in England too as India revelled in the bowling allrounder that they had unravelled after Hardik Pandya’s injury.
“He fits into that slot of the bowling allrounder beautifully. Shardul is a hard-working cricketer who knows his limitations and you’ll see more of him,” Balaji said.

Siraj puts in a shift of courage
9.5-0-24-0 isn’t a matchwinning effort that you’ll remember 10 years down the line. But in the six overs that Siraj bowled on Tuesday at Wanderers, he showed how puts his team ahead of himself and is ready to push the pain barrier.

Siraj hobbled off with a hamstring pull on Monday and it isn’t easy to bowl after that. But a heavily-strapped Siraj was not ready to concede South Africa the psychological edge that India are a bowler short and was there right from the beginning on Tuesday.
“It must have been more of a spasm than a pull and not a tear. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to bowl. The physio and the bowler must have decided after a lot of deliberation that he would be able to bowl,” former India trainer Ramji Srinivasan said.
Now, will Siraj bowl in the second innings?