‘I Will Teach Shardul Thakur A Lesson’ – Ajinkya Rahane Recalls BGT 2020-21 Incident At The Gabba That Left Rohit Sharma angry

India batter Ajiinkya Rahane spoke about an incident from the famous 2020-21 bilateral Test series between India and Australia. He revealed an unheard conversation between him and Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma got angry at his teammate Shardul Thakur who played a rash shot in the last Test match at Gabba. Rahane revealed that Rohit said he wanted to teach Shardul a lesson as the latter gave Australia the chance to win the match.

Narrating the story, Rahane said that it was when Thakur walked in after Washington Sundar got out that Rohit told him it was Thakur’s chance to become a hero. Thakur, with India needing three runs to win the match and wrap up the series, was caught at square leg after going for a glory shot and departed after scoring only two runs.

“Shardul Thakur was walking in when Washington got out. Rohit told him ‘This is your opportunity of becoming a hero’. And he just nodded and left. Rohit was sitting next to me. He said, ‘let the match get over, let us win, I will teach him a lesson I said, forget it, we’ll see once the match is over,” said Rahane on VOOT in the documentary ‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’ streaming.

Everybody inside is like ‘What are you doing?’: Ashwin

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, narrating the incident from his point of view, recalled how Rohit told Thakur to “finish it” before the latter walked out to bat. The spinner said that he understands why Thakur went for the glory shot, saying he would have wanted to finish how MS Dhoni finished the 2011 World Cup final by hitting a six.

“I totally understand Shardul. He would have imagined, ‘like how Ravi bhai said, Dhoni hits a six and wins the World Cup’,” said Ashwin. “So inside Shardul’s head, he has already figured out the moment, the commentary, the book the movie, everything. So Shardul’s gone for it, it’s gone to short square leg and got out. And everybody inside is like ‘What are you doing?’,”.

After Thakur’s dismissal, fortunately for India, it was batter Rishabh Pant who was on strike and finished the match. India won by three wickets, chasing a target of 328. Pant, who finished with 89, was adjudged Man of the Match for his heroics. He guided India to a historic Test and series win in Australia.