Shardul Thakur has made quite the impression as a batsman and such has been his impact with the willow that fans have started calling the all-rounder 'Lord Shardul'. The 29-year-old along with Rishabh Pant stitched a 100-run partnership for the seventh wicket, with the former contributing 60.
His effort was appreciated by the netizens as it helped India from three quick blows in the opening session of Day 4 of the ongoing Test at the Oval. Riding on his effort, the visitors got the much-needed push as they managed to put 466 on the scoreboard and gave England an imposing 368-run target.
This was not the first time in the contest when Shardul's bat came to India's rescue. Earlier in the first-inning, the 29-year-old added 57 runs to help India post a respectable 191 on the board.
Impressed with Shardul's heroics with the bat, ex-India cricketers Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer also joined the bandwagon and hailed the cricketer for his impressive show. Here is what they said:
#LordShardul showing the middle order how it is done. Magnificent 60. What a #TeachersDay gift. pic.twitter.com/nHt7NuoUHM
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) September 5, 2021
Whenever he came to the wicket
Change came over the game of cricket#LordShardul #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/Kskc4fiL3f— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) September 5, 2021
Meanwhile, fans flooded Twitter with 'Lord Shardul' memes, praising the cricketer for standing tall against the English bowling attack. Here are a few tweets:
Lord Shardul to bowlers in this series #ENGvsIND #LordShardul pic.twitter.com/v9x7VNT4rP
— Dhoni Raina 7 (@ShivaDhonifan7) September 5, 2021
Lord Shardul We need you..
One more time...
#IndvsEng pic.twitter.com/0HM4LAUxBP— ᛕ (@LostCause_AD) September 5, 2021
Amazing Lord Shardul, crucial runs in consecutive innings! #ENGvIND #re #LordShardul pic.twitter.com/VAzLIktap2
— मेहरान (@mehranzaidi) September 5, 2021
Lord Shardul Thakur comes to bat #IndvsEng pic.twitter.com/Mzaspr07Bf
— D J 2.O (@djaywalebabu) September 5, 2021
Lord Shardul Supremacy pic.twitter.com/LcTMqlcRpy
— Varad Ralegaonkar (@varadr_tistic) September 5, 2021
With the ball, Shardul managed to scalp the prize wicket of Ollie Pope in England's first innings, who scored 81 to emerge as the leading run-scorer from the England camp.
