South Africa v India: Shardul Thakur never took seven wickets in first-class cricket, but he made his debut in Johannesburg and took the best figures by an Indian in Test matches against South Africa.
Thakur took big wickets throughout the day whenever it seemed South Africa were building a strong partnership. (AP photo)
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- Thakur’s 7/61 took him above Harbhajan for best figures against South Africa
- Thakur checks on South Africa’s progress with big wickets in first and second session
- Thakur had never taken 7 wickets in an innings before in first-class cricket.
Shardul Thakur broke the record with his scintillating performance on the second day of the second test match between India and South Africa in Johannesburg. Thakur finished South Africa’s innings with figures of 7/61, the best by any Indian bowler against South Africa in Test cricket.
Interestingly, Thakur had never taken a seven-wicket haul in his entire first-class career, his previous best being 6/31 while playing against Bengal in the 2016/17 Ranji Trophy.
Thakur’s Indian teammate Ravichandran Ashwin had earlier set the record. The spinner recorded figures of 7/66 at Nagpur in November 2015, helping India win by 124 runs. Harbhajan Singh, who recently retired from all forms of cricket, held the record for the best figures by an Indian in South Africa when he scored 7/120 in a drawn Test at Cape Town in January 2011.
Thakur surpassed both these figures with his performance in the Johannesburg Test on the second day. He is playing just his sixth Test match, which makes him the second fastest Indian bowler to take his maiden seven-wicket haul. He surpassed all-rounder Dattu Phadkar, who played 31 Tests for India in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Fast bowler Amar Singh, who played Test cricket before World War II and widely recognized as one of India’s first great fast bowlers, was the fastest to the milestone as he did in his fourth Test.
The 30-year-old is also the first Indian fast bowler to take seven wickets in an innings in South Africa. Javagal Srinath held the record for the best figures by an Indian fast bowler in South Africa with six for 76 at Port Elizabeth in November 2001.
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