Cricket South Africa vs India 2023

'Shardul is fighter' - Fans react as Shardul Thakur kept playing after injury during first innings against SA in first Test

Shardul Thakur played a short but important cameo for Team India on the first day of the ongoing Centurion Test, scoring 24 runs with 3 boundaries.

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Mathew K
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Shardul Thakur (File Photo: Twitter)

Shardul Thakur (File Photo: Twitter)

Indian pace-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur made it to the headlines of social media after he opted to stay there in the middle for India even after an injury he faced during batting. The incident happened in the 47th over of the first innings when India were 6 wickets down at the score of 164 runs.

Thakur faced a blow on his body on the first ball of Kagiso Rabada’s over; subsequently, he was given medical attention immediately; however, Shardul didn’t opt to go out of the field and kept playing to produce an important cameo for the visitors when the other batters were struggling with the bounce and pace at the surface of the SuperSport Park in Centurion. 

Speaking of the action of the first day of the series opener between South Africa and India; the hosts won the toss and asked Rohit Sharma’s men to bat first; batting first, India were struggling at the score of 208 runs, losing 8 wickets at the time rain interruption in the third session of the day.

KL Rahul keeps the fight going amidst a fall for the Indian batting attack

Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was still there in the middle unbeaten at the individual score of 70 runs, alongside the lower-order batter and pacer, Mohammed Siraj, who was yet to get off the mark.

Earlier, India lost the wickets at short intervals except for a crucial partnership of 68 runs for the fourth wicket between the former skipper Virat Kohli and the star middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer. Apart from KL Rahul’s 70 runs, Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli also contributed with knocks of 38 and 31 runs, respectively followed by a 24-run cameo from Shardul Thakur. 

The star Proteas pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada claimed a brilliant five-wicket haul to take the hosts in a commanding position on the first day of the match. Other than Rabada, young debutant Nandre Burger also picked 2 wickets, alongside one scalp bagged by Marco Jansen.

Here’s how fans reacted to Shardul Thakur playing despite injury:

 

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