India all-rounder Shardul Thakur played a gritty knock for his team on Day 1 of the first Test against South Africa in Centurion on Tuesday.
Thakur made 24 off 33 balls with three boundaries but it was the fight he showed against the fired-up Proteas pacers that grabbed everyone's attention.
Short ball treatment for Indian batters
The likes of Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee and Nandre Burger have been peppering the Indian batters with short balls and used the bounce on the pitch to good effect.
Batters got hit on different parts of their upper bodies while trying to evade or play the quick bouncers with Thakur copping the most number of blows.
One of the bouncers from Coetzee, South Africa's fastest bowler in the team, hit Thakur flush on the helmet which resulted in a swelling on his forehead.
A few deliveries later he was hit on the right arm by another bouncer. Pictures of the bruises on Thakur's body went viral on social media, which are drawing a lot of praise from Indian cricket fans.
Fighter Shardul scores important runs for team
Thakur stitched a crucial 43-run partnership with KL Rahul (39*) in the second session which helped India recover to 176 for 7 by tea after they collapsed from 91 for 3 to 107 for 5 within the first half-hour of play post the lunch break.
Rabada was the wrecker-in-chief for the hosts, picking 5 wickets for 41 runs to clinch his 14th five-for and first against India in Test cricket.
Rahul is still batting in the middle after completing his half-century off 80 balls but India only have the tail-enders left to follow.
