‘Shardulkar Of Indian Cricket’ Fans Demand Ban On ‘Sholay’ Dialogue After Thakur’s Heroics

Making a comeback after his injury, Shardul Thakur scored the second-fastest Test fifty by an Indian batsman off just 31 balls on the opening day of the fourth Test at The Kennington Oval in London.

Barring skipper Virat Kohli, who scored a fifty, no other Indian batter was able to show restraint against England’s quality pace-bowling attack, which looked even more fiery with the arrival of Chris Woakes.

A quick 31-ball fifty for Shardul Thakur

What a knock he is playing!#WTC23 | #ENGvIND | https://t.co/zRhnFiKhzZ pic.twitter.com/odUam0xSDL

— ICC (@ICC) September 2, 2021

From 105/4 to 127/7, India’s middle-order crumbled once again in this series but then came Shardul Thakur and launched a brilliant counter-attack, taking the attack to the English pacers. 

Shardul counter-attacks England in style and races to his 50 with a pull over square leg for 6.

Tune into Sony Six (ENG), Sony Ten 3 (HIN), Sony Ten 4 (TAM, TEL) & SonyLIV (https://t.co/AwcwLCPFGm ) now! #ENGvINDOnlyOnSonyTen #BackOurBoys #Shardul pic.twitter.com/pzGbUPnUI8

— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) September 2, 2021

With the help of seven fours and three maximums, he blasted 57 off just 36 balls, took the second spot on the fastest Test fifty list, sandwiched between Kapil Dev and Virender Sehwag. Now that’s some company.  

Not just that, it was also the fastest Test fifty on English soil scored by any batsman. Now that’s some record. 

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Thakur is already a fan-favourite and he enhanced his reputation to a whole new level as he took the England bowlers to the cleaners.  

‘Lord Thakur’, as he is fondly called by his fans, began trending on social media platforms as people hailed his brilliant knock and thanked him for saving India’s day, to some extent.  

Some of his fans jokingly demanded a complete ban on an iconic dialogue from ‘Sholay’ — ‘Ye Haath Mujhe De De Thakur’. 

It’s not Shardul Thakur anymore, it’s Shardulkar of Indian cricket.

— Bhawana (@bhawnakohli5) September 2, 2021

Hum toh aap ko bowler samaj rahe the aap tho Warrior nikley

Lord Shardul#Shardulthakur #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/oKVv6wIkCF

— Soumen (@IamSoumenbiswal) September 2, 2021

Won’t be surprised if Shardul Thakur comes ahead of Rahane in 2nd innings.#ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/RebG8PVVYC

— Anup Bhise (@BhiseAnup) September 2, 2021

England bowlers after watching shardul batting be like #Shardulthakur pic.twitter.com/ooUBxpaXv7

— sarcasm__27 (@rahuljoshi144) September 2, 2021

He came
He saw
He survived
He destroyed
He left!!

Well played LORD SHARDUL THAKUR.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/VsPo9GQITI

— CRICOSOME ॐ (@CRICOSOME) September 2, 2021

Ben Stokes or Sir Ravindra Jadeja or Hardik Pandya, Who?
Palgharcha Raja Lord Shardul Thakur is the best all-rounder in cricket right now!
Showing their place to Starc, Cummins now James Anderson! Everyone bow down to his Supremacy!#Shardulthakur pic.twitter.com/EJTMVkfYJn

— Vishal Verma (@VishalVerma_9) September 2, 2021 

Mind you! These very bowlers have daunted the reputation of some of the more established Indian batters making them look like school kids, but had no answer to Thakur’s onslaught. 

And if you are among those who think Thakur scored these runs riding on his luck, you can’t be more wrong. As expected of any lower-order batsman, Thaur also took his chances but he also played some exquisite shots along the way, forcing the fans to the edge of their seats. 

Wowwwwww

Batting is definitely not as easy as Shardul Thakur is making it ought to be

Well played @imShard #lordthakur pic.twitter.com/x2VHQycLXh

— DK (@DineshKarthik) September 2, 2021

Shardul counter-attacks England in style and races to his 50 with a pull over square leg for 6.

Tune into Sony Six (ENG), Sony Ten 3 (HIN), Sony Ten 4 (TAM, TEL) & SonyLIV (https://t.co/AwcwLCPFGm ) now! #ENGvINDOnlyOnSonyTen #BackOurBoys #Shardul pic.twitter.com/pzGbUPnUI8

— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) September 2, 2021 

His batting was not limited to just power-hitting, it also involved great technique. He knew batting with a straight bat would be productive as the ball seams and swings a lot more in the English conditions than anywhere else. 

“In English conditions if you attempt to play with straight bat you get the chance to score more runs. It swings and seams a lot here, so for the batsman the best chance to score is to play with a straight bat,” Thakur said at the end of Day 1, when asked about how he was able to score runs. 

© Twitter/BCCI

While Thakur’s knock is commendable, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the middle-order collapse is India’s biggest concern at the moment, and the established batters must get their act together before it’s too late.  

After all, we can’t expect our lower-order to bail us out every time.