Enjoying English conditions, it’s swinging and hopefully it will stay the same: says bowler Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur bowled the dangerous-looking England captain Joe Root to help India round up England for 183, showing impressive bowling as the visitors took a commanding lead after the first day of the opening test on Wednesday.

Thakur was delighted to get the prized scalp of Root as the Indian pacer said that he was enjoying bowling with the Dukes ball in English conditions and hoped that it will stay the same:

Root had looked solid before Shardul Thakur trapped the England captain lbw, ending a fine knock that included 11 boundaries. Thakur backed it up with yet another scalp in the same over as he removed Ollie Robinson for a duck.

“It was cloudy for a while and I was really happy that we got 10 wickets. If you see he (Root) had played a few balls and he was playing really well and looked poised for a big score,” Shardul Thakur said after the end of play on Day 1.

“At that period, getting him out was crucial for us and we got him. Really happy (on getting Root’s wicket). One of the top batters in the world, whether you get him in the 60s or 90s it’s always a good wicket to have,” Thakur added.

“If you look at the pitch it looked like it won’t spin much and felt better to go with 4 pacers and one spinner combination. Enjoying the English conditions, it’s swinging and hopefully, it will stay the same.

“We got good pitches to practice in Durham and really enjoyed the conditions there. Since he retired, why not bring him back into the game (On coach Ravi Shastri calling him Beefy),” Thakur further said.

India moved to 21 for no loss in reply, batting out the last 13 overs without any damage to cap off a highly satisfying day.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were both batting on nine and looked comfortable against the seaming ball at Trent Bridge. The first match of the five-Test series also marks the beginning of the new World Test Championship cycle.