‘Your performance has kept the Test series alive’, Tendulkar hails Shardul Thakur’s ‘all-round’ show in Brisbane Test

Tendulkar congratulated Siraj for his remarkable feat and also heaped praises on Shardul, stating that the latter’s performance has kept the match and more importantly, the Test series alive.

Former Indian cricketer and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on Monday lauded the exceptional bowling performance showcased by Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur against Australia.

Brisbane : India's Shardul Thakur, left, celebrates the dismissal of Australia's Tim Paine, right, during play on day four of the fourth cricket test between India and Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane, Australia, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. AP/PTI(AP01_18_2021_000018B) (AP)

On the fourth day of the Brisbane Test, both the quicks combined to pick nine wickets to bowl out Australia for 294 at the Gabba. While Shardul returned with four wickets, Siraj claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in the longest format of the game.

Tendulkar congratulated Siraj for his remarkable feat and also heaped praises on Shardul, stating that the latter’s performance has kept the match and more importantly, the Test series alive.

“Well done Mohd. Siraj on your 1st fifer and @imShard on your important all-round performance which has kept the Test rather interesting so far and more importantly, the Test series alive," Tendulkar tweeted.

Last week, while analysing Siraj's bowling, Tendulkar had said that it was the Indian pacer's ability and not pitch that brought the ball in on the opening day of final Test.

When Mohammed Siraj was bowling, I had a couple of guys say that the ball hit the crack and it nipped back something which I observed was completely different. Mohammed Siraj, when he was bowling outswingers, (reflecting on the shiny surface of the ball) this is the shiny side and what he would do is he would get his fingers behind the ball and release it," Tendulkar said in a video posted on his Twitter.

“So the seam is pointing towards first slip, or sometimes second slip, and when he wanted to bowl in cutter which moves off the seam, instead of going behind the ball he went off the pitch,” he added.

In the final session on Monday, with rain playing spoilsport, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill could face just 1.5 overs before the umpires decided to call for early stumps. India need 324 runs on the final day with 10 wickets in hand.