'Tula parat manla': Virat Kohli tweets in Marathi for Shardul Thakur, Sanjay Manjrekar explains story behind it

Terming the batting performance of Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur a display of 'outstanding application' India captain Virat Kohli took to Twitter to heap praise on the two youngsters. Both Sundar - on debut - and Thakur registered their maiden Test fifties to script an outstanding fightback my the India side on Day 3 of the India vs Australia 4th Test in Brisbane.

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"Outstanding application and belief by Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. This is what test cricket is all about. Washy top composure on debut and tula parat maanla re Thakur!"

Outstanding application and belief by @Sundarwashi5 and @imShard. This is what test cricket is all about. Washy top composure on debut and tula parat maanla re Thakur! 👏👌

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 17, 2021

Kohli used three words towards the end of his Tweet to applaud Thakur. Explaining the meaning of 'tula parat manla', former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar narrated an interesting story behind Kohli's choice of words.

Manjrekar said tula parat manla means 'hats off to you again' and said the reason why Kohli took his hat off to Shardul Thakur again was because of his innings against West Indies.

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"We say tula manla in Mumbai a lot to state 'hats off to you' and that's what he (Virat Kohli) tweeted after that innings (against West Indies) and now he has said tula parat manla which means hats off to you again," Manjrekar explained.

The former India batsman added that it was after Shardul's match-winning cameo of 17 in the third ODI against West Indies in Cuttack in 2019 that Kohli walked up to him seeking advice on a Marathi term to describe Shardul's innings. That's when Manjrekar had suggested using 'tula manla'.

Shardul and Sundar built a 123-run stand and finally, the partnership was broken by Pat Cummins as he dismissed Shardul (67). The duo broke the record of Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar. Dev and Prabhakar had stitched together a partnership of 58 runs in 1991, and 20-years later, finally the record has been broken.

Former India swashbuckling batsman Virender Sehwag also applauded India's fightback in the game and called it a top-effort from the visiting team.

"Adelaide 2003: India conceded a lead of 33. Today in Brisbane India concede 33, when at one stage it looked like they may end up conceding 133. Great effort considering that Australia's 4 bowlers had more than 1000 Test wickets to India's 5 bowlers having 11. Shandar Zabardast," he tweeted.

Shardul and Sundar joined forces at the crease when India was in a spot of bother at 186/6 and the visitors were looking to avoid being bundled out in a hurry.

The duo mixed caution with aggression and both batsmen were up to the task of capitalising on the loose balls. Sundar and Shardul also faced seven overs with the second new ball, and both batsmen have remained unfazed.

India was finally bundled out for 336, handing Australia a lead of 33 runs.

On the second day, India had bundled out Australia for 369 as Thakur, T Natarajan, and Sundar scalped three wickets each. Marnus Labuschagne had top-scored for Australia as he played a knock of 108 runs.

(With ANI inputs)