MUMBAI: The moment he completed his scintillating, gritty 105-ball century, sweeping Abid Mushtaq for a single, an ecstatic Shardul Thakur seemed to have forgotten that he had been affected by severe cramps which required treatment multiple times on the field.
Sprinting towards the Mumbai dressing room/clubhouse, he spread his arms, blew kisses and raised his finger towards the audience, which was wholeheartedly applauding Thakur’s second first-class hundred, which was even acknowledged by Jammu & Kashmir’s 40-year-old captain Paras Dogra as “one of the best he had seen” in domestic cricket.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
The past 12 months haven’t been an easy ride for Thakur. With the Indian team management looking beyondt he 33-year-old in red-ball cricket, preferring the talented Nitish Kumar Reddy instead, there are questions over his future in international cricket.
A slow comeback to the game after an ankle injury which required a surgery and no takers for the Mumbaikar at the IPL auction in Nov last year-it all seemed to suggest that the ‘Palghar Express’ was now chugging to the backpages of Indian cricket.
However, like in the case of Mumbai in domestic cricket, you must write off Thakur at your own peril.
At the Sharad Pawar Academy at BKC, rescuing Mumbai twice in two days from precarious situations with sizzling performances with the bat against the rampaging Jammu & Kashmir bowlers, Thakur has shown why the acronyms ‘Lord Thakur’ and the ‘Crisis Man of Mumbai ’ suit him so well.
Serving a stern reminder to the national selectors about his never-say-die “khadoos” attitude and fighting skills, in a gallant show which saw him battle cramps after he crossed fifty and a hit on the chest from an Umar Nazir bouncer after he reached his hundred, Thakur stroked a glorious century (113 not out, 119b, 17×4), which will be remembered for a long time the way it magically brought Mumbai back into the match from a near-impossible situation.
Trailing by 86 runs on Day 2, Mumbai seemed done and dusted and headed for their second consecutive defeat to J&K in almost a decade when they slipped to 86 for five in their second innings, which basically read ‘0 for five.’
A 54-run opening stand between India’s Test & ODI captain Rohit Sharma (28, 35b, 2×4, 3×6) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (26, 51b, 4×4) had promised much, but then a stunning collapse saw the defending champions lose six wickets for 47 runs as Hardik Tamore (1), Shivam Dube (0, bagged a king pair), Shreyas Iyer (17, should’ve been adjudged caught behind of Umar Nazir when was on 8 but umpire S Ravi missed a loud edge, protested when he was eventually given out in the same fashion), skipper Ajinkya Rahane (16, was caught brilliantly at mid-off by J&K captain Paras Dogra) and Shams Mulani (4) all fell in a heap.
At 101 for seven, Mumbai looked to be heading for an embarrassing defeat inside two days with the visitors’ pacers Auqib Nabi (3-69), Umar Nazir (2-76) and Yudhvir Singh (2-63) again firing on all cylinders.
However, in walked Tanush Kotian. Fresh off his maiden India call-up for the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, the off-spinning allrounder served as Thakur’s perfect ‘alliance partner, stroking an unbeaten 58 (119b, 6×4). The duo’s epic, unfinished 173-run partnership in 234 balls for the eighth wicket turned the match on its head, and left the J&K bowlers completely deflated.
Incidentally, it was at same venue almost an year back, in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Tamil Nadu that Thakur (109) and Kotian (89 not out) had pulled off a similarly magnificent rescue act, taking Mumbai from 106 for seven to 378, which paved the way for an innings & 70-run win on that occasion.
This too, was a fightback for the ages, and it has now given Mumbai a 188-run lead in the match, with three wickets left in the bag. While it’s not clear if Thakur will be fit enough to bowl in the second innings, Mumbai will bank on seamer Mohit Avasthi, who took five for 52 in the first innings to wrap up J&K for 206, and their spinners Mulani and Kotian to do the job.
After he stroked a gritty fifty in challenging conditions on Day One, Thakur wasn’t willing to talk up about his performance.
“What can I talk about my quality? Others should talk about it. They should see that if someone has quality, he should be given more chances. I like batting in difficult situations. In easy situations, everyone does well. But how you put up the show in adverse situations matters. I see tough situations as a challenge and always think about how to overcome that challenge…” he had said.
Dogra summed up J&K’s plight best: “Hathi nikal gaya, bas poonch reh gayi (the elephant almost went through, but the tail was left).”
