When Thakur & Sundar Scripted Iconic 7th Wicket Stand To Lead Gabba Fightback Vs AUS
Washington Sundar & Shardul Thakur
On 17th January 2021, Indian promising all-rounders Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar scripted history with an iconic 7th wicket stand of 123 runs on Day 3 of the Gabba Test between India and Australia. The duo’s record stand helped India induce a fight back against the mighty Aussies.
With India’s back against the wall, Sundar and Thakur walked out to bat on Day 3 of the Test match. India was 186/6, staring at a huge trail when the all-round duo came to the rescue. Sundar, in particular, marked his debut in style by hitting a six off Aussie skipper Pat Cummins. The confidence encouraged him to pull off a commanding drive over mid-on in the same over.
The duo didn’t look back and played their shots with utmost fearlessness and resilience. After a certain point, a fatigued Australian bowling unit ended up leaking runs. Sundar and Thakur took advantage of the change in dynamics and scripted a record partnership of 123 runs of 217 deliveries for the seventh wicket.
It was India’s highest seventh-wicket partnership at the venue and only the third-largest in Aussie cricketing history.
Eventually, skipper Pat Cummins broke the stand by dismissing Shardul Thakur at 67 runs. Meanwhile, Washington Sundar perished later after scoring his maiden half-century.
Lastly, the tail survived for a while, with Mohammad Siraj entertaining the crowd with his unconventional shot selection. But eventually, India were bowled out for 336 runs, thus reducing the tail to mere 33 runs.
Regardless, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar’s extraordinary fightback will be remembered for generations to come. The young duo, with minimal red ball cricket experience, stood tall against the mighty Aussies at the latter’s fortress in Gabba.
Not only did Sundar and Thakur help restrict the first-inning trail to the bare minimum, but they also helped India get back in the contest, and the rest is history.
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 "Akshita Patel")
