'He does it every single time': Twitter on fire after 'Lord Shardul Thakur' takes maiden Test five-wicket haul

The gritty 74-run stand between Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen was broken by Shardul Thakur and he followed it up with two more wickets.

Shardul Thakur's impressive spell on the second day's wicket at the Wanderers has helped India regain control of the second Test of the three-match series against South Africa. The 30-year-old Shardul picked his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket to push the hosts on the backfoot at the Wanderers.

Shardul Thakur (REUTERS)

It all started with Shardul removing SA skipper Dean Elgar, who nicked it behind for Rishabh Pant to pouch an easy catch. The gritty 74-run stand between Elgar and Keegan Petersen was broken by Shardul and he followed it up with two more wickets.

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Often hailed as the man with the golden arm, Shardul then removed Petersen. The well-set South African batter was batting on 62 when he went to drive a length delivery that was pitched slightly wide. He nicked it to Mayank Agarwal at the second slip as the Indian camp erupted in joy.

The recent batting contributions from Shardul doesn't give proof of his batting prowess. He had scored just 14 runs across two innings in the Test series opener in Centurion and a duck in Johannesburg. But the bowling all-rounder made his presence felt with the ball with the triple strike on Tuesday.

Shardul's wicket-taking spree continued further as he plucked the wicket of Rassie van der Dussen, completing India's remarkable turnaround on the second day of the Test. Batting on 1 off 17 deliveries, van der Dussen got an inside edge before Pant managed to get his gloves under the ball and complete the catch.

Shardul picked up two more wickets – Kyle Verreynne (21) and Temba Bavuma (51) -- before tea to complete his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

Twitter was all praise for Shardul, who inflicted three blows to magnify India's chances of winning the Test and sealing their maiden series win in the Rainbow nation. In his 10 Test matches so far, Shardul has picked two or more wickets on seven occasions, giving a glimpse of his ability with the ball.

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer also heaped praise on Shardul in his hilarious manner. "Lord Shardul and team India believe in fair play. That's why Lord never bowls to new batsmen, he's only brought on once there is a partnership and the batsmen are set. Lord still gets them out though," he wrote.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Shardul's impressive bowling show on Day 2: