Watch: “Who Are You? Wicket Falls If You Just Bowl”- Ravichandran Ashwin Astonished At Shardul Thakur’s Wicket Haul

Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur created history as he picked up the best bowling figures by an Indian in a Test match against South Africa and in South Africa as well and was rightly congratulated by his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin right on the field.

Shardul Thakur ran through the South African batting line-up on day two of the second Test match played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. After India managed just 2020 runs in their first innings, South Africa looked good to get a huge lead as they resumed the day on 35/1. However, despite the best efforts of their batters, Shardul proved to be too difficult for them to get away.

In the end, the right-arm pacer from Palghar, a suburb near Mumbai, went on to pouch 7/61 in 17.5 overs with 3 maidens. This bettered the record of Ravichandran Ashwin, who had picked 7/66 in Nagpur in a Test match in 2015.

What is interesting is that the other three top performances by Indian bowlers against South Africa were all by spinners. Harbhajan Singh picked up two 7-fors during his heydays while Ashwin has another 7-for in his kitty, which came in 2019 in Vizag.

Shardul, however, was on a song with the ball, as he dismissed Dean Elgar, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, and Temba Bavuma, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi, on his way to registering the best figures by an Indian bowler against South Africa.

Ravichandran Ashwin Surprised At Shardul Thakur’s Wicket Taking Spree, Makes Funny Remark

Shardul Thakur came to India’s aid as Mohammed Siraj was dealing with a hamstring issue and his presence kept KL Rahul from over bowling Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. Even Ravichandran Ashwin was left mystified by his success.

The veteran off-spinner came up with a hilarious remark when Thakur dismissed debutant Kyle Verreynne for his fourth victim of the innings.

“Yarra nee, engendhu da pudichanga unna? Nee ball potaale wicket vizhum (“Who are you? Wicket falls if you just bowl),” Ashwin said.

Just was about to tag you?? pic.twitter.com/WGf0WEL0dP

— Jacob Richard (@jacobrich07) January 4, 2022

Meanwhile, South Africa managed just 229 runs, getting a lead of 27 runs. Temba Bavuma (51) and Keegan Petersen (62) were the bright performers for the home side, while Dean Elgar, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, and Keshav Maharaj all contributed important runs.

Also Read: IND vs SA: Watch – KL Rahul’s Hilarious On-Field Interaction With Mohammed Siraj