Shardul Thakur has said his father, who is a farmer, always told him to keep trying for success and his Brisbane performance won India the match.
Shardul Thakur had a disastrous debut in 2018 against the West Indies when he bowled only 10 balls and missed the remainder of the Test due to injury. When the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav formed a formidable quartet, it seemed his next opportunity would take a long time. However, when injuries to the Indian cricket team in Brisbane saw him being fast-tracked into the Test squad, Shardul Thakur grabbed the opportunity with both hands. In the Test match, he took seven wickets but with the bat, he made a crucial 67 and shared a partnership in excess of 100 with Washington Sundar as India crucially did not allow Australia a big lead. His all-round exploits helped India win the series 2-1 but importantly, India had ended Australia's 32-year stranglehold at The Gabba.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Shardul Thakur revealed that his perseverance was inspired by his father, who is a farmer and who taught him to keep trying in every situation. "There were two options, either I crib or just go there and keep working. Keep working was the only option. My father is a farmer and all our life we are taught to keep trying. Keep working hard, keep pushing. Same is in cricket, I will again try," Thakur said.
Capitalised on Australia fatigue
The Indian cricket team fielded a new playing 11 every single time because players were getting injured. Only Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara played all four Tests while the bowling line-up which reached Brisbane had a combined experience of seven Tests. However, the Indian cricket team seized upon a particular weakness of the Australian side. Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon had played all the Tests and they were fatigued. This is the belief upon which India felt that they always had a chance in Brisbane.
"I told Sundar that let’s hang around because their bowlers were getting tired. Australia hadn’t given rest to any of their seamers in the entire Test series, it was the same bowling attack playing and we could sense that they were getting tired. The more they got tired the easier it would get. And it happened, their bowlers did get tired," Thakur said.
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