IND vs. ENG 2021: [Watch] Shardul Thakur dismisses Joe Root with a peach of a delivery

In his short career so far, Shardul Thakur has shown a knack for giving crucial breakthroughs whenever his team desperately needs them.

He continued the trend in the first Test against England as he dismissed opposition skipper Joe Root to break the backbone of England's batting line-up.

Sucker ball from Shardul Thakur. Of the 26 deliveries he bowled to the England captain, the wicket ball was only the second that would have hit the stumps - patience earlier in the day, then attacking as England subside. #ENGvIND

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) August 4, 2021

Despite all the batters around him struggling to score freely, Joe Root looked in sublime form and scored an impressive 64 in 108 deliveries. It looked like Root would shepherd the innings with tailenders and take England past 200 or 25.

But Shardul Thakur bowled a sumptuous incoming delivery to pin him plumb in front of the stumps in the 59th over.

You can watch the wicket-taking ball below:

SHARDUL THAKUR ON A ROLL 🔥First the big wicket of Root and then Robinson for a duck ☝🏽Tune into Sony Six (ENG), Sony Ten 3 (HIN), Sony Ten 4 (TAM, TEL) & SonyLIV (https://t.co/AwcwLCPFGm ) now! 📺#ENGvINDOnlyOnSonyTen #BackOurBoys #ShardulThakur pic.twitter.com/8Zl8QB1TOL

— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 4, 2021

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Shami and Bumrah star for India in the bowling department

Earlier in the day, England had won the toss and elected to bat first on the green track. Jasprit Bumrah(4/46) dismissed Rory Burns in the very first over to give India a good start.

Dom Sibley(18) and Zak Crawley(27) put on a 42-run partnership for the second wicket and tried to steady the innings. Shami(3/23) and Siraj(1/48) dismissed the duo to reduce England to 66/3.

At this stage, Jonny Bairstow(29) and Joe Root played sensible cricket to help their side recover. They stitched a 72-run stand for the fourth wicket before Shami castled Bairstow with a beauty.

Only 9% of Bumrah's balls in England (2018 and today) have been categorised as not swinging - that is the lowest proportion of any bowler in the CricViz database. #ENGvIND

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) August 4, 2021

Dan Lawrence and Jos Buttler did not disturb the scorers as they perished for a duck. Shardul Thakur wielded his magic by scalping Root and Ollie Robinson in a single over to give India the advantage.

Root looked to be in pristine touch until he was dismissed by a peach of a delivery. Over the course of his innings, the 30-year-old also became the highest run-scorer for England across formats.

Earlier, Alastair Cook held the record with 15737 runs. Joe Root overtook that tally in the afternoon session and then went on to score his 50th half-century in Test cricket.

Sam Curran's(27 in 37 balls) cameo helped England reach 183 in the end.

Since the start of 2010, there have been 23 men to played 20+ innings batting at No.8 in Tests. The only one to average more than Sam Curran, is Ravindra Jadeja. #ENGvIND

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) August 4, 2021