Picture Credit: Twitter
Shardul Thakur was the star performer for Team India in the first innings of the fourth Test match against England at The Oval. While he is better known for his performances with the ball, it was his innings with the bat that saw him score India's second-fastest fifty in the recorded history of Test match cricket. Thanks to his 57 off 36 balls, India managed to reach a challenging total of 191.
Notably, the Indian batting order had collapsed earlier and had it not been for Shardul's counter-attacking knock, the Men in Blue would have been wrapped up all the more cheaply. The Palghar born cricketer's performance has won the hearts of the netizens as he scored the fastest Test fifty in English conditions. At a virtual press conference after the day's play, Shardul opened up on the nickname "Lord" that he has received from cricket fans.
A short clip from the press conference has even been shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In the video, Thakur can be seen saying that that he is happy with all the love he is receiving from everyone.
"@imShard is happy with the love he’s getting from his teammates & not to forget some legendary nicknames “Tula maanla re” Shardul #TeamIndia #ENGvIND," the BCCI captioned the video tweet.
Here is the video:
“I think only two of the names are my nicknames. Lord is just a meme that started on social media I think. But yes pretty happy that I am getting so much love from the teammates and from everyone that they want to call me by a certain nickname, so very happy about it,” Shardul said in the video.
Other than Shardul, only Virat Kohli seemed to be in control with the bat. However, he failed to convert his half-century into the much-awaited 71st international hundred from his bat. Till the end of the day, India had come right back into the match having scalped three wickets of the England team including the number 1 Test batsman Joe Root who has been in sublime form in the series. England's scoreboard currently reads 53/3 with the home team trailing by 138 runs.