-Vinay Kumar
Thanks to the sharp bowling of Shardul Thakur, the best bowler of the Indian team, India bundled out South Africa’s first innings for 229 runs. In this match, batting first after winning the toss, Team India scored 202 runs in their first innings. In such a situation, South Africa got a 27-run lead in the first innings. Shardul Thakur bowled brilliantly and took 7 wickets for just 61 runs. The history of Test cricket tells that Shardul Thakur also made Johannesburg’s record for being the highest wicket-taker Indian bowler at this ground. It is worth noting that before Shardul Thakur, the former great spin bowler of the Indian team, Anil Kumble, had taken 6 wickets for 53 runs on this ground.
Significantly, Shardul Thakur has taken 7 wickets in an innings for the first time in his international Test career in the second day match of the second Test match against South Africa (South Africa vs India Test Series 2022). However, due to the excellent performance of Shardul Thakur, Team India did not have to take much lead from South Africa in the first innings of this match, but South Africa did a good job, but was successful in taking the lead. Because, South Africa’s Temba Bavuma and Kegan Pietersen hit a half-century with the bat. There was only one half-century in the batting of the first innings for India. This was the difference between the batting of the first innings of the team of both the countries.
On the bowling front, only Shardul Thakur dominated, whose lethal bowling gave Team India a break from time to time. Due to Shardul, South Africa’s top order also collapsed in the second day’s play of the match. Thakur took the first wicket of South Africa captain Dean Elgar (Captain South Africa Test Series 2021-2022) in the second day’s play, who scored 28 runs off 120 balls and Rishabh Pant off Shardul. Rishabh Pant became the victim of the wicket-keeper. After this, the wickets of Keegen Petersen and Van der Dussen also fell in the same way.
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After Shardul Thakur’s 3 wickets, there was a good partnership between South African wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and Temba Bavuma. But, Kyle also made Shardul lbw for 21 runs. After this it was the turn of Temba Bavuma, who was playing after completing the half-century by batting atishi, who tried to play Shardul’s leg-side ball, caught behind the wicket to the astonishing Rishabh Pant and measured the way to the pavilion. went. This was Shardul’s 5th wicket and also the first Five Wickets Hall of his Test career. After this, South Africa’s tailender batsman Marco Jensen on the personal score of 21 runs was also caught by Ravichandran Ashwin and took the sixth wicket in the bowling of his first innings of this match. And in the very next ball, Lungi Ngidi also became a victim of Shardul.
With this, India’s sharp bowler Shardul Thakur became the sixth Indian bowler to take 5 or more wickets in an innings at the Wanderers ground in Johannesburg. Let us remind you that Anil Kumble was the first Indian bowler who took 5 or more wickets at this ground in Johannesburg for the first time in the 1992-93 Test series. In that match, Anil Kumble took 6 wickets for 53 runs. After this, in the 1996-97 series, former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath took 5 wickets for 104 runs. s. Sreesanth took 5 wickets for 40 runs in the test series played against South Africa in 2006-2007. And just before this, in the tour of South Africa, Jasprit Bumrah, the dangerous fast bowler of the Indian team, got 5 wickets for 54 runs at the same ground in Johannesburg and Mohammed Shami (Mohammad Shami) in the same series. ) also took 5 wickets for 29 runs.