Shardul Thakur smashes second-fastest fifty by an Indian in Test cricket off 31 balls

Cricket Desk: Shardul Thakur gave oxygen to the struggling Indian innings by slamming the second-fastest Test fifty by an Indian on Day 1 of the fourth Test against England at The Oval. Thakur reached his fifty off just 31 balls on Thursday bettering Virender Sehwag’s 32-ball fifty against England in Chennai back in 2008.

The record for the fastest fifty by an Indian in Test cricket stands with Kapil Deb. The former India captain had slammed his half-century off just 30 balls against Pakistan in Karachi in 1982.

Twitter went crazy seeing Shardul hit the England bowlers to all parts of The Oval.

Shardul, who replaced an injured Ishant Sharma in this match, came out all guns blazing after he walked out to bat at No.8. The right-hander, who has a reputation for being a solid striker of a cricket ball, hit seven fours and three sixes on his way to his second fifty in Test cricket. His first was against Australia in Brisbane earlier this year.

Shardul even got to his fifty with a six off Ollie Robinson in the 60th over. The right-hander was finally dismissed by Woakes when he missed a fuller length delivery that rapped onto his pads. The umpire Alex Wharf shook his head but England captain Joe Root was quick to go fr the review. Replays showed three reds and Shardul had to take the long walk back for 57 off just 36 balls.

Shardul put together an important 63-run ninth-wicket stand with Umesh Yadav that took their total to 191.

Apart from Shardul, India captain Virat Kohli was the only other batsman who shown some sort of resilience in front of the relentless England seamers. Kohli scored 50.

For England, Chris Woakes, who is making a comeback in this Test, got four wickets for 55 runs while Ollie Robinson got 3 for 38.