Shardul Thakur does lord things once again, dismisses Ben Duckett and Harry Brook to give India glimmer of hope

Shardul Thakur does lord things once again, dismisses Ben Duckett and Harry Brook to give India glimmer of hope

India were down and out on the final day of the first Test against England in Headingley, Leeds, but the fall of Zak Crawley in the second session paved the way for India to stage a comeback. Prasidh Krishna dismissed Crawley (65) and Ollie Pope (0) in quick succession; however, Ben Duckett was still going strong, and India were up against it. 

India vs England, 1st Test: Shardul Thakur took wickets of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook in the same over(Action Images via Reuters)

It was then that Shardul Thakur decided to step up for the visitors as he took two wickets on consecutive balls in the 55th over, as he dismissed the left-handed batter Duckett (149) and Harry Brook (0). As soon as the latter was dismissed, India were quite upbeat, realising a door had been left open for them to barge in and stage a memorable comeback.

It must be mentioned that Harry Brook is the first batter in the history of the game to be dismissed for 99 in the first innings and then bag a golden duck in the second innings. 

Shardul Thakur, fondly referred to as ‘Lord’, bowled just six overs in the first innings, and Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir were criticised for not trusting him enough and underusing him with the ball. 

Also Read: IND vs ENG LIVE Score: Shardul Thakur gives India a glimmer of hope with twin wickets

In the second innings, Shardul once again didn't bowl much, but he made the most of his chances in the second session of Day 5 as he pegged England back by dismissing Duckett and Brook.

Shardul first had Duckett caught at the hands of a short extra over fielder while the pacer had Harry Brook strangled down the legside. Brook charged down the wicket and seeing this, the Indian pacer fired the ball legside and Brook edged it to hand a simple catch to Rishabh Pant. 

Earlier, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put on 188 runs for the opening wicket in the fourth and final innings for England. The duo looked set to stage a memorable win for England.

However, Prasidh Krishna stepped up as he dismissed Crawley and Pope in quick succession. 

In the first session, Crawley and Duckett kept the Indian attack at bay as the duo scored runs for fun. Even Jasprit Bumrah wasn't able to keep them quiet as the pitch offered no assistance for the seamers.

However, the pitch came into its own in the second session and even Ravindra Jadeja started to get some assistance. However, England still have the upper hand in the Headingley Test. India would be required to play out of their skins in order to pull this one back.