Not for nothing is he called the ‘man with a golden arm’.
On Friday, Thakur got to use the new ball with Mohammed Shami, a role that he does not get to play often in the presence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. He usually bowls first change.
Despite feeling the aftereffects of a fever that he had in the game against Pakistan, he ran in hard and experimented with different lengths. The first two scalps that he picked, that of Tanzid Hasan and Anamul Haque, were short-ofgood-length balls.
In the hope of producing an edge, Thakur had conceded two fours as Hasan caressed the bowler through cover. Thakur shortened his length and a delivery that looked ripe for a pull was dragged on to the stumps by Hasan.
Anamul too went for an ugly hoick as he could not get Mohammed Shami away from the other end and ended up top-edging to the wicketkeeper.
He could have had the wicket of Mehidy Hasan Miraj twice in the space of four deliveries, but for the largesse of his colleagues in the field. Debutant Tilak Varma grassed a sitter at mid-wicket as a half-volley on middle and leg was driven straight to him. Then he produced a wonderful away seamer that bounced on the batter which Mehidy edged to Suryakumar Yadav at second slip.
After a five-over first spell, Rohit summoned Thakur again after the second drinks interval to break the partnership that was developing between Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Towhid Hridoy as the pair added 101 for the fifth wicket.
Thakur has broken four century stands in his career so far and he responded on cue, getting Shakib to play on first ball after drinks.
The Palghar resident, who plies his trade for Mumbai in domestic cricket, where he is nicknamed ‘Bull’ for always trying and for being stocky, has been preferred over Shami in this tournament, because he offers batting depth at No. 8.
While that call is debatable as Shami is a more dependable bowler, with Thakur what you get is an allout effort for wickets, even if he goes for runs.
When the wicket is slow and not much is happening, you have to try something different,” he told ex-English pacer Dominic Cork in a chat with the broadcasters.
“Bowling with different grips comes to me naturally. Even I don’t know what will happen once the ball pitches.”
(AI image)
