WTC 2023 Final: Shardul Thakur shines with valiant fifty

The Day 3 of the World Test Championship Final between Australia and India saw the Rohit Sharma-led side bounce back in their innings and put up a valiant fight. India finished Day 2 struggling at 151/5, and Australia started the proceedings by dismissing KS Bharat in the very first over and handing India a major blow, but what followed next blew everyone’s minds.

Shardul Thakur joined hands with Ajinkya Rahane and the duo shared a 109-run partnership for the seventh wicket. They stabilised India’s innings and took the scorecard from 152/6 to 261/7. While Rahane fell 11 runs short of a deserving century, Thakur brought up his third half-century at the venue, thereby finishing with 51(109).

Thakur was brilliant with the bat, and gave a befitting reply to all his critics with the knock. Just when it looked like India’s innings had come to an end, the partnership between Rahane and Thakur helped their side get back in the race and keep their team’s hopes alive. Thakur’s knock of the 109-ball 51 included six fours, as he batted at a strike rate of 46.78.

With the knock, Thakur became the second Indian player to score a half-century in the WTC Final after Rahane, who became the first player in the same innings. Having played three innings at The Oval, Thakur now has three fifties in all these games as he yet again put his all-round skills on display. Thakur also became just the second Indian batter to score a fifty batting at No. 8. In three innings of two Tests, Thakur now has 168 runs at an average of 56.00

Thakur joined the ranks of legendary cricketers like Australia’s Sir Don Bradman and Allan Border for scoring the most consecutive 50-plus scores in Tests at The Oval. Bradman was the first cricketer to achieve this feat in 1930 and 1934, and Border became the second player to repeat a similar heroic, when he notched up consecutive centuries in the years 1985 and 1989.

In his previous Test at the iconic venue in 2021, Thakur notched up a half-century (57) against England, and has now followed it up with another in 2023.