Bow down to Lord: Shardul Thakur memes go viral after double strike in Leeds Test
Shardul Thakur continued his habit of conjuring moments of magic against the run of play. After a largely underwhelming performance in the first Test against England in Leeds, Shardul provided India with a glimmer of hope on Day 5. He claimed two wickets in as many balls during the second over of his second spell in the innings.Ben Duckett had, until that point, single-handedly placed England in the driving seat during their mammoth chase of 371. The left-hander became only the third England opener in the past 20 years—after the legendary Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss—to score a century in the fourth innings of a Test match. As India scrambled for answers after exhausting two Jasprit Bumrah spells in the second session, Duckett stood tall on 149. | Leeds Test, Day 5 Updates |advertisementIt was then that Shubman Gill turned to Shardul Thakur—more out of hope than tactical calculation. The medium-pace all-rounder had barely bowled up to that point, delivering just six overs in the first session and only four in the second.
But Shardul, being Shardul, pulled something out of nowhere. He sent down a fuller-length delivery outside off-stump, tempting Duckett into a drive. Seeing the length, the England opener's eyes lit up as he went through the shot—but the ball carried in the air and was smartly taken by Nitish Kumar Reddy in the cover region.On the very next delivery, Shardul strayed down the leg side to new batter Harry Brook. To the surprise of many, Brook got a faint edge through to Rishabh Pant behind the stumps, who completed the catch.LORD THAKUR to the rescue! #ShardulThakur first ends #BenDuckett's stellar knock and then gets #HarryBrook on the very next ball!Is this the opening #TeamIndia was waiting for in this Test? #ENGvIND 1st Test, Day 5 | LIVE NOW | Streaming on JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/b7YW8ME7Q1— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 24, 2025advertisementJust like that, Shardul had two in two, breathing life back into India's fading hopes, with England still 117 runs from the finish line.Meme makers on social media had a field day.Bow down to Lord Shardul Thakur ?? pic.twitter.com/v0iKfxsUiX— Shiv (@mr_Tubun) June 24, 2025Shardul Thakur pic.twitter.com/WFbl25zKM0— Maximus Decimus MeRRRidius (@Vivek_Tweetzzz) June 24, 2025Lord shardul thakur kya lucky aadmi hai ???? #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/4oVrxBmQ5L— Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) June 24, 2025Shardul Thakur: pic.twitter.com/hFkouQkiM4 #EngvInd— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) June 24, 2025Lord Shardul Thakur who did nothing in the match, came on the last day and took 2 wickets in 2 balls pic.twitter.com/0uF2eSVopn— Sagar (@sagarcasm) June 24, 2025India's bowling unit, however, struggled to pose a consistent threat on a pitch that did not deteriorate as anticipated at Headingley. Bumrah, India's spearhead, went wicketless in his first 17 overs—unable to provide the crucial breakthroughs that were expected of him, especially after his five-wicket haul in the first innings.Mohammed Siraj gave it his all, charging in tirelessly, but lacked the necessary consistency, offering up boundary balls far too often. Prasidh Krishna, meanwhile, looked fairly pedestrian for the most part, although he did dismiss Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope with deliveries that moved both ways.India lacked both the penetration and the pitch support they would have hoped for in the final innings. And with Duckett's masterful knock anchoring the chase, Indian hopes never truly took off on the final day.- EndsYou May Also Like
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