Feisty, gritty and gutsy — such adjectives sum up well Shardul Thakur’s performance with the bat, which helped India turn the tables on England in the fourth Test at The Oval in London and take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

If not for Shardul’s counterattacking knocks of 57 and 60, circumstances would have been far more difficult for India as they were under the pump till the end of the first session of Day IV of the Test.

Even with the ball, the three scalps of Shardul were all vital breakthroughs. In the first innings, he dismissed Ollie Pope, who was batting on 81, and in the second, he got rid of half-centurion Rory Burns before accounting for England skipper Joe Root, a dismissal that practically confirmed India’s victory.

The 29-year-old all-rounder’s performance at The Oval strongly indicates that his exploits in trying circumstances in Brisbane versus Australia back in January were no fluke.

Prior to that Brisbane Test where he hit 67 in the first innings and finished with a match haul of seven wickets, Shardul’s adventure in Test cricket was not worth mentioning.

In his Test debut, back in October 2018 versus the West Indies in Hyderabad, he could bowl only 1.4 overs before a groin strain halted him.

“Shardul could bowl no further in that game because of that injury. He went through a very tough phase in that period of time, but he also made sure he took it in his stride and tried to come back stronger,” MSK Prasad, who was the chief selector then, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

“We knew what his potential was, so we kept backing him. And since the Brisbane Test, he has only vindicated our trust in him.

“Precisely, it’s his consistent showing for Mumbai, both with the bat and ball, which has brought him this far,” MSK added.

Change of grip

The minor tweak in terms of his grip on the bat before he left for the Australia tour last season has led to an improvement in Shardul’s batting, his coach Dinesh Lad said. “His temperament while batting used to be an issue, but his inclusion for the tour of Australia turned out to be very beneficial for him.

“Before leaving for Australia, Shardul had one or two sessions with me where I slightly changed his grip on the bat as his bat face would close more. That helped him, while he worked on his temperament too,” Lad, who has also been Rohit Sharma’s childhood coach, said.

“We saw the advantages of that in the second innings at The Oval, where he took a little more time before unleashing his shots.”

Focus on bowling

Lad, however, feels Shardul should focus more on his bowling. “I think he should concentrate more on his bowling because in the Indian team, he’s included mainly as a bowler.

“Yes, he can bat well, but bowling needs more focus because ever since he started playing cricket, he could bowl well as a quick.

“I used to keep telling him, ‘Tu focus karna bowling ke upar kyunki woh tera first preference hai (You focus on bowling since it’s your first preference),’” Lad stated.

All-format player

Not just in Tests, Shardul’s performances in white-ball cricket too have been encouraging this year.

With India still struggling to settle on a fast-bowling all-rounder across formats — Hardik Pandya’s slip in form making matters worse — Shardul might be considered a good option for the role.

MSK, however, prefers not to jump to conclusions. “It’s better to go step by step. At the moment, attention should be paid to his Test performances,” the former India wicketkeeper-batsman said.

“But yeah, Shardul has proved himself in shorter formats too, be it in domestic cricket or in the IPL,” MSK added.

Shardul during the fourth Test. Getty Images

Numbers speak

Shardul’s last 5 innings

As a batsman

⚫ Position: No. 8

⚫ Runs: 186

⚫ Avg: 37.20

⚫ 50s: 3

⚫ HS: 67

As a bowler

⚫ Overs: 68

⚫ Runs given: 215

⚫ Wkts: 11

⚫ BB: 4/61

⚫ Avg: 19.54