"I am staggered Shardul Thakur wasn't the Man of the Match" - Michael Vaughan
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 said the latter, who impacted the match four times with his all-round 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 off 36 and 60 off 72), reparing 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.
"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. 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.
Under pressure in the second innings, he went in and got another fifty. I am staggered he wasn't Man of the Match," Vaughan said in an interaction with Cricbuzz after the match.
India were 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 Burns for 50 with a jaffa. 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.
"What Shardul Thakur has done in this game will be remembered for a long time" - 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."
"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.