IND vs SA: He Kept Running In Almost Like He Had This Magical Or Real Desire To Try And Prove A Point – Shaun Pollock On Shardul Thakur

Former South African pacer Shaun Pollock feels that the India bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur who bagged a 7-wicket haul in the second Test against South Africa at the Wanderers, Johannesburg had a “magical or real desire to try and prove a point”.

Shardul Thakur came to bowl in 37th over of South Africa’s first innings and he picked wickets back-to-back, he broke two partnerships and with his 18-over spell he broke the back of the Proteas batting unit and helped India restrict South Africa to a first-innings lead of just 27 runs.

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Speaking on Cricbuzz Shaun Pollock said ‘Lord Thakur’ had self-belief and the key to his success was the use of “his angle on the crease “. He elaborated:

“There must be a self-belief in #LordThakur (chuckles), with the way he’s performed. And a brilliant 7/61… I think just his angle on the crease was the key to his success here. From wide, he was angling in and getting it to shape away, and then if it didn’t do that, it would sort of nip back and get the batters to play at it.”

“His game plan was pretty good, he didn’t mix it up too much, there was the odd short delivery thrown in but he just kept running in almost like he had this magical or real desire to try and prove a point…“

Meanwhile, Pollock opined that the pitch will continue to misbehave on Day 3 and if India post more than 220-225 runs it will be a defendable target. He said:

“I think South Africa’s approach will be a lot different. I think India would go in a lot happier than they would have [expected] after the partnership, the rate at which they scored the runs and the 58 they have on the board. It’s going to be interesting. The wicket is going to continue misbehaving… I think if India can set anything more than 220-225 and up to 250, it will be a really big ask of South Africa to try and knock that off.”

I Have A Special Place For Shardul Thakur In My Heart – Dinesh Karthik

Veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik who was also present in the video during the same discussion said he has a “special place” in his heart for Shardul. He reasoned:

“I have a special place for him in my heart only because as a domestic player he’s played 60-70 matches for Bombay [Mumbai] which has done phenomenally well… Obviously, he started as the third bowler but went on to become their lead bowler along with Dhawal Kulkarni and did brilliantly well for them. He was the guy who used to pick up wickets early, partnership breaker there as well, so he’s used to this.”

Karthik added that the speciality of Shardul is his “self-confidence”. He stated:

” And just his attitude – I mean, if you just look at him and look at the skills of a Bumrah or a Shami, you go ‘Wow, what’s so special about him?’ But I think his speciality is his self-confidence.”

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

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