'Lord' Shardul Thakur's triple strike impresses Ashwin, earns 'Wicket Takoor' nickname

As India and England locked horns on Tuesday in the first ODI, speedster Shardul Thakur continued his run with the golden arm as he struck thrice to bring the hosts back in the game. Having made a name in the recent T20I series against England, Thakur accounted for three key wickets to propel India to the pole position. After Prasidh Krishna's twin strikes, Thakur removed dangerous Jonny Bairstow who seemed to be cruising towards his century. 

Not only did he deprive Bairstow of his century but also sent skipper Eoin Morgan packing and trapped Jos Buttler before the stumps, reducing England to 176-5. Thakur's impressive spell was lauded by Ravichandran Ashwin as well, who gave the speedster a hilarious nickname. Referring to his key wickets in the last two T20s, Ashwin named the pacer 'Wicket Takooor'. In the last two T20s against England, Shardul Thakur came in at a crucial point and picked two wickets in each of the games to boost India's winning chances. 

The Indian pacer's knack for turning games around invited funny responses, with many users calling him 'Lord Shardul'. Here's how netizens reacted: 

Krunal Pandya's fiery 50

Two years after making his international debut in T20Is, Krunal Pandya received his maiden ODI cap on Tuesday as India stepped onto the field to face England in the last leg of the tour. Coming off a huge loss with his father's demise, the senior Pandya looked anything but shaken as he stormed the MCA stadium, taking the attack to the English bowlers. Wasting no time, Krunal struck three consecutive boundaries off Tom Curran, announcing his arrival in the 50-over format. 

The debutant went on to play a scintillating knock alongside KL Rahul who also found his lost touch and regained confidence with some brilliant shots. Registering a 28-ball fifty, Krunal Pandya on Tuesday, created a record of smashing the fastest ODI 50 on debut in international cricket. The middle-order batsman who smashed 7 fours and 2 sixes, raised his bat in glory towards the sky, as a tribute to his late father, to whom he also dedicated his fierce knocks in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. 

After Hardik Pandya's dismissal, the hosts had lost half their side for 205 in the 41st over and it seemed that England would stage a comeback into the contest but, it was not to be as the middle-order duo of Krunal Pandya (58*) and KL Rahul (62*) resurrected the Indian innings. The duo was involved in a 112-run stand for the sixth wicket as the hosts ended up posting a stiff total of 317/5 from their 50 overs.

Image Credits: BCCI