"That happens very often" - Aakash Chopra on the pressure exerted by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami helping Shardul Thakur
Aakash Chopra has acknowledged that Shardul Thakur benefitted from the constant pressure applied by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami from the other end.
Thakur snared seven wickets in South Africa's first innings of the ongoing second Test in Johannesburg. Meanwhile, Bumrah and Shami - Team India's premier bowlers - managed three wickets between them.
A 5-WKT haul for @imShard 👏👏
This is his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Live - bit.ly/SAvIND-2ndTest #SAvIND https://t.co/jAfTaC2hwd
During a discussion on Star Sports, Aakash Chopra was asked about Bumrah and Shami's tight spells helping Shardul Thakur. He responded:
"That happens very often. When you look at Ravichandran Ashwin, just for the lack of a better example, picking up a lot of wickets on Indian surfaces, you say he is the best of the lot. Of course, he has been the best but it is also because Ravindra Jadeja is just not allowing the batsmen to run free."
The former India cricketer highlighted that the paucity of runs from one end forces the batters to be more adventurous against the other bowlers. Chopra observed:
"If there are no runs coming from one end, he is very accurate and faster in the air, what does a batsman do. He tries to attack the other guy and the other guy has got the skill."
Both Bumrah and Shami had an economy rate less than 2.50 runs per over in South Africa's first innings. It certainly caused the Proteas batters to be more extravagant against Shardul Thakur, which contributed to their dismissals.
"It's not taking anything away from Shardul Thakur or Ravichandran Ashwin" - Aakash Chopra
While lauding Shardul Thakur's performance, Aakash Chopra pointed out that the most successful bowler might not be the best bowler on the day. He explained:
It's not taking anything away from Shardul or Ravichandran Ashwin but the fact is that the bowlers create pressure and on a day one of the bowlers will walk away with five wickets but that doesn't necessarily mean that he was the best bowler on the day."
The renowned commentator concluded by stating that the constant pressure applied by Bumrah and Shami did help Shardul Thakur's cause. Chopra elaborated:
"It's also just the cumulative pressure that's been created from the other end that allowed you to pick a few more wickets because batsmen were happy to take a few more risks against you as opposed to Shami and Bumrah."
Congratulations to @imShard on picking up 7 wickets with his steady bowling and variations. Good support by the others.
#SAvIND
Thakur's 7/61 are not only his best figures in Test cricket but also at the first-class level. His previous best was 6/31 for Mumbai in a Ranji Trophy encounter against Bengal.