Michael Vaughan Staggered By Decision To Pick Rohit Sharma Not Shardul Thakur As MoM In The 4th Test
Sep 7, 2021 at 12:47 PM
Michael Vaughan was ‘staggered’ by the Pataudi Trophy commentary panel’s decision to pick Rohit Sharma, and not Shardul Thakur, as Man of the Match for the 4th Test at the oval. The former England captain Michael Vaughan said the latter, who impacted the match four times with his all-around skills, deserved the award even more.
Rohit Sharma was the highest scorer of the match, amassing an outstanding 127 in the second innings. Shardul Thakur, on the other hand, made two aggressive half-centuries (57 of 36 and 60 of 72), repairing a collapse in the first innings and stamping India’s advantage in the second. He also picked up four critical wickets in the game, including that of Joe Root on Monday.
Michael Vaughan: Shardul Thakur Should Have Been Awarded Man Of The Match
Rohit Sharma was named Man of the Match in the 4th Test for his brilliant century but he said that Shardul Thakur deserved it too for his all-around performance. Shardul Thakur was the top scorer for India in the first innings with 57 off only 36 balls. He then picked up the wicket of England’s top scorer in their first innings-Ollie Pope(81).
Shardul Thakur then scored 60 of 72 balls in the 2nd innings and picked up crucial breakthroughs of opener Rory Burns (50) and England skipper Joe Root (36).
“Ahh, he should have got Man of the Match. No question. Rohit played great but Shardul Thakur impacted the game four times – twice with the bat and twice with the ball,” said Michael Vaughan.
“Key wickets, that massive wicket of Ollie Pope (in the first innings), and then (in the second innings) Rory Burns first and then the captain. Two fifties – [India were] 117-7, he changed the course of the game in the first innings,” said Michael Vaughan.
“Under pressure in the second innings, he went in and got another fifty. I am staggered he wasn’t Man of the Match,” Michael Vaughan said in an interaction with Cricbuzz after the match.
India was tasked with defending over 290 runs on a batting-friendly Day 5. The hosts started patiently but both Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav couldn’t get any wickets.
Here, Shardul Thakur got the breakthrough on his first ball, dismissing Rory Burns for 50. He then came back in the innings to get Joe Root who played on to his stumps just when he was looking set for a big score. Consequently, India won the match by 157 runs, with Umesh Yadav cleaning the tail.
Shardul Thakur’s 2 Fifties Deflated The Opposition: Virat Kohli
Indian captain Virat Kohli was also all praise for Shardul Thakur in the post-match presentation. He said the all-rounder’s contributions were the difference between the two teams and will be “remembered for a long time.”
Shardul Thakur has featured in only 4 Tests so far since debuting in 2018 against the West Indies where he got injured and couldn’t bowl more than 10 balls. But the Australia tour in 2020/21 gave him another opportunity with several cricketers injured and he did well in both batting and bowling. He has so far amassed 190 runs averaging a decent 38 and picked up 14 scalps averaging an impressive 22.71.
“What Shardul has done in this game will be remembered for a long time. His fifty was the difference between a 150-160 run lead and a 100-run lead. His two fifties deflated the opposition. His counterattack in the second innings made a lot of difference. We thought they would restrict us to a reasonable total when I got out, but he changed it,” said Kohli.
India and England will now clash in the fifth and final Test at Old Trafford in Manchester on September 10.