New Delhi, March 23: India pacer Shardul Thakur once again brought his team back in the game with his wicket-taking deliveries in the second spell of the opening one-day international against England on Tuesday (March 23).
After going for runs in the first spell, the Mumbai cricketer came back strongly in his second spell and gave three massive setbacks to England's batting order in the big run chase.
Chasing a target of 318, England were off to a blistering start as Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow started the run chase for their team with a sensational century stand for the first wicket. The duo shared the opening partnership of 135 off just 89 deliveries before Roy was dismissed by debutant Prasidh Krishna for 46.
Later Thakur removed dangerous Bairstow for 94 and pulled things back for their team for at one stage it seemed as if the tourists would overhaul the target under 40 overs.
While Krishna gave the hosts the first couple of wickets, Shardul once again proved why he's a dangerous bowler of the second spell when he picked up three quick wickets and put the English side under pressure.
It was the third instance in a row when Thakur picked up two wickets in an over and brought his team back in the game. The right-arm pacer picked up a couple of wickets in the fourth and fifth T20I against England - which was held in Ahmedabad.
In the first ODI, Thakur picked up the wickets of England captain Eoin Morgan and his deputy Jos Buttler in the same over and pushed the tourists on the backfoot. Morgan was dismissed for 22 when the English skipper was caught behind the stumps by KL Rahul, on the first delivery of his over, while Buttler was trapped in front by the speedster on the fourth delivery.
Impressed with Shardul's sensational spell, fans and experts hailed him as 'Lord Shardul Thakur' - who was the leading wicket-taker during the T20I series between India and England.
This is how Twitterati reacted:
LORD SHARDUL SIR 🤯 he gets the three quick wickets of Bairstow, Morgan and Buttler! Wow wow wow. How quickly this game has changed! 🇮🇳🏴#INDvENG
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) March 23, 2021
Thakur has been superb in how he’s mixed his deliveries with variations in pace and length. England have slumped from 135-0 to 175-5 and in a precarious situation now
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 23, 2021
Lord Shardul 💛🔥 pic.twitter.com/N5s3EjHXDN
— ° (@DemonXworld) March 23, 2021
Lord shardul 👑 pic.twitter.com/9TmvMVVUEJ
— ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ (@Panditcasm) March 23, 2021
LORD SHARDUL SIR to England batsmen... ⚡⚡#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/Ow0O9jgvON
— Kori Ankit (@KoriAnkit1) March 23, 2021
Lord Shardul#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/v1e3P5bfhC
— Sami ⚡️ (@SamiFlies) March 23, 2021
One sun, one moon, one Lord Shardul ! 🌻#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/bpS9bdNe8T
— Anirban Debnath (@untanirban) March 23, 2021
"Lord Shardul" Man Behind EVERYTHING @imShard Masss 💥🔥 pic.twitter.com/SQnsk7w1Ah
— Raghu Tarakian (@raghuram9347) March 23, 2021
Lord shardul 🦁
— RITIK° (@Ri_tweets_) March 23, 2021
Ek over me 2 wickets lene ke baad... pic.twitter.com/aINw2KTNmm
*Lord shardul*
— HONESTLY SAYS 🇮🇳 (@honestly_says) March 23, 2021
"When two wicket fall in single over" pic.twitter.com/iIjvQnckAQ
LORD SHARDUL THAKUR. The food you chew hard, he gulps it.. The door you knock twice, he breaks it.. Legend. Don. Messiah.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) March 23, 2021
Every time LORD SHARDUL Taking Wickets for India in Right Time 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
— Siva Harsha™ (@SivaHarsha_1) March 23, 2021
Almost in this series he is playing crucial role 💥💥✨#INDvENG #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/QRmjKdtRSj
Lord Shardul Breathing Fire. 146 !#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/q2cI7gyLpa
— Arpan (@ThatCricketHead) March 23, 2021
We're living in the LORD SHARDUL ERA!!!! #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/BsYcIwM2DN
— Abhishek Tripathi (@Abhithecomic) March 23, 2021