Watch: Mumbai's Shardul Thakur brings up maiden First-Class ton in style during Ranji semi-final against Tamil Nadu

India all-rounder Shardul Thakur brought up his maiden First-Class century in style with a six during Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Tamil Nadu in Mumbai on Sunday.

Thakur, who had been dropped for the five-Test series against England at home after featuring in the tour of South Africa, danced down the track and smashed Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner Ajith Ram for a six over long off to bring up the milestone on Day 2 of the semi-final clash at Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex.

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Thakur came to Mumbai’s rescue after they had been reduced to 106/7, facing the prospect of conceding a first-innings lead despite bowling Tamil Nadu out for a paltry 146. Palghar native Thakur would stitch a 105-run eighth-wicket partnership with wicket-keeper batter Hardik Tamore (35) before the latter fell to left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore. Thakur would continue to attack the TN bowlers from his end though, adding 79 for the ninth wicket with Tanush Kotian, another Mumbai lower-order batter who’s in great nick at the moment.

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He would eventually be dismissed for a 105-ball 109, in which he collected 13 fours and four sixes, after getting caught-behind off Kuldeep Sen’s bowling. Kotian, meanwhile, was batting on 74 at close of play with Tushar Deshpande unbeaten on 17 and the last-wicket partnership between the two worth 63. The Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai reached 353/9 at stumps, leading their opponents by a massive 207 runs and boosting their chances of reaching the final.

Thakur had earlier contributed with the ball as well, collecting two wickets for 48 runs while Deshpande led the way with a haul of 3/24 as Tamil Nadu were bundled out for less than 150 after skipper Sai Kishore’s decision to bat backfired on his team.

Thakur had collected 11 half-centuries in First-Class cricket, including four in Tests, before bringing up the three-figure mark for the first time on Sunday. His first-ever half-century in Test cricket came during India’s epic victory at The Gabba in Brisbane during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the form of a 115-ball 67. Thakur would then score back-to-back half-centuries at The Oval during the fourth Test against England later that year.