Was Shardul Thakur’s Performance The Main Game Changer For India’s Victory?

Team India’s tremendous win had left the fans overwhelmed at The Oval on Monday! While the celebrations are going at the camp, it’s an obvious question that comes to everyone’s mind that who was the real game changer after the first innings. India got a solid start with Rohit Sharma scoring 127 off 256. No doubt Pacer Jasprit Bumrah and All rounder Shardul Thakur proved to be a crucial element in India’s victory over England, Thakur took three wickets and scored two fifties in the fourth test. Team India on Monday powerfully struck back by defeating England by 157 runs in the fourth Test at The Oval. After losing drastically at the Headingley, Team India made a powerful comeback in the fourth test.

Shardul Thakur has been in the news for his exceptional batting as well as bowling performance that had a major impact in both the innings guiding India to their victory at Oval after 50 years. In the first innings Shardul scored 57 off 36 balls in the first innings and 60 off 72 balls in the second innings , He took  3 wickets, one in the first innings and two in the second. Thakur in the press conference expressed that he felt honored for his contribution towards  team India’s victory. Bumrah who took 54/1 in the first innings and 22/2 in the second innings thus becoming the fastest pacer to take 100 wickets in the test series was all in praise for Thakur. Bumrah stated that Shardul Thakur’s performance shifted the momentum towards team India as he delivered an exceptional performance in both the innings.. He further stated that “His impact was massive, it is always necessary to have that fifth bowler who gives you that comfort and does the job for the team.” states, a hopeful Bumrah.

With a 2-1 lead in the India vs england Test series, Kohli and men need a win or a draw to bagg the series. 

We know that a team plays together and that a team’s win is not an individual effort, yet we can’t help but ask, was Thakur, the main game changer?