IND vs ENG 2021: Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami share an interesting anecdote about Bairstow's LBW review
Indian pacers Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur had an interesting story to share about the wicket of England batsman Jonny Bairstow. Shami trapped Bairstow in front during Day 1 of the first Test between the two sides, but the on-field umpire declared it not out.
When skipper Virat Kohli was asking his players whether they should go for a review, most of them thought that it was not out. However, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami were convinced that the ball would go on to hit the stumps and persuaded Kohli to go for the review at the very last moment.
In a video posted on the BCCI's official Twitter handle, Thakur explained how Kohli wants at least two people on the team to give him an affirmation for the review whenever such confusion arises. He said:
"When we took that (Bairstow's) review, there is a small story behind that. Shami bhai told Virat that the ball is crashing into middle stump, but there was confusion. I was standing at mid-on and I was convinced that it had hit the pad twice and not hit the bat and pad. While all the others were telling Virat to not take the review, he wanted at least two people to say that it is out. So me and Shami told him that it is out and he took the review and it was a huge wicket for Team India. That is where the real collapse started."
Mohammad Shami, Shardul Thakur were impressive with the ball
Although Jasprit Bumrah was the star of the show with a four-wicket haul, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur also chipped in with five wickets among them.
Shami was a bit unlucky at the start as he beat the bat on multiple occasions. However, he reaped the rewards for his patience and penetration in due course of time with the wickets of Dom Sibley, Bairstow and Dan Lawrence.
Shardul Thakur was also impressive as he picked up the big wicket of Joe Root, followed by that of all-rounder Ollie Robinson. The pacer's efforts helped India trigger a batting collapse which saw England lose their last seven wickets for just 45 runs.