VIDEO | Shardul ‘golden-arm’ Thakur gives a starry send-off to Moises Henriques

After posting 302 runs on board, India breathed a sigh of relief going into the second innings, with a plethora of bowling options in hand while Australia missed the presence of David Warner at the top of the order. For the home team, there was a shuffle up at the top of the order, with Marnus Labuschagne walking out to bat alongside Aaron Finch. While Natarajan found the back of Labuschagne with an edge on to his own stumps, Finch continued his merry run against India in the Australian summer, with Steve Smith walking to bat. 

However, the introduction of Shardul Thakur, timely by Virat Kohli found the back of the man in a purple patch - Steve Smith which put Australia in a position of trouble in the innings, at 56/2, chasing 303 for a victory and a whitewash over India. After Smith walked back to the hut, state-mate Moises Henriques battled his way against the Indian bowlers, who seemed to have found their right touch after two off days in the field. Finch, on the other hand, continued to ride his luck as Indian fielders were hesitant to see the back of him. 

Slowly yet steadily, the duo got Australia to 117 from 56, edging closer to the target set by the visitors. However, post that, Indian skipper Kohli brought back Thakur to get one of the two set batsmen back to the hut, for an Indian victory on Australian soil finally in the series. While the two batsmen negotiated their way - Thakur came back amazingly with a cross-seamed short delivery that caught Henriques’ attention. 

After swinging the delivery hard, the all-rounder found Shikhar Dhawan fielding at short mid-wicket, which saw Australia getting reduced to 117/3. A jubilant skipper Kohli and Thakur could not contain their excitement - as Thakur ‘starred’ hard into Henriques before sending him off in a turbulent fashion while Kohli jumped in joy.

Watch the celebration here: