India vs England, 2021: Watch - Joe Root Plays On His Stumps As Shardul Thakur Reels The Big Wicket

It had to be Shardul Thakur to reel out the prized wicket of Joe Root, which in all likelihood would effectively be the end of England‘s challenge at The Oval. This is the second time in the two Tests they have come face-to-face that Shardul Thakur has got the better of the English captain in this series, after accounting him in the first Test at Trent Bridge.

In fact, not taking the second new ball, and handing the older one to Shardul Thakur turned out to be a masterstroke from Virat Kohli. The Palghar-born had bowled just 6 overs in the first 80 overs India bowled; he took the breakthrough wicket of Rory Burns in the morning.

On the first ball of the 81st over, which marked Shardul Thakur’s second spell, he castled Root with an innocuous delivery, bowled at 127 KPH. A slightly short-of-good-length ball outside the off-stump, with no movement off the pitch for Thakur, it went on straight.

Root wanted to dab it to third man, which has been his go-to shot. However, he inside edges it onto the sticks. And look at Shardul Thakur go in his celebration. He has been terrific with both bat and ball throughout the game – certainly, a strong contender for the Man Of The Match award.

Watch: Shardul Thakur gets rid of Joe Root

The LORD striketh gold! ?
Shardul bowls one in the corridor outside off and Root chops it on! ??

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India 2 wickets away from victory at Tea

Joe Root was the 7th wicket to fall; his expressions, body language suggested he knew the end was near. After Shardul Thakur had broken the 100-run opening stand with the wicket of Rory Burns, and Dawid Malan ran himself out, India rolled over the England batters in the second session bagging 6 wickets.

Ravindra Jadeja got rid of Haseeb Hameed and Moeen Ali. In between those two wickets, Jasprit Bumrah burst through the defences of Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow. Thakur returned to claim the wicket of Root before Umesh Yadav dismissed Chris Woakes at the stroke of Tea. India are now just two wickets away from taking a lead in the series.

Also Read: England vs India 2021: Ajinkya Rahane’s Confidence Is Shot – Sunil Gavaskar