Best is Yet to Come: Shardul Thakur After 7-Wicket Haul Against South Africa

Shardul Thakur picked 7 wickets in the first innings against South Africa in Johannesburg.

Shardul Thakur after Day 2 

Image: IANS

Shardul Thakur on Tuesday registered best bowling figures in an innings by an Indian in Tests against South Africa with a seven-wicket haul on Day 2 of the second Test match but speedster feels his best is "yet to come" and he is confident of bettering his personal best.

It was Thakur, whose sensational and a career-best 7 for 61 bowling figures helped India make a comeback in the ongoing second Test, which is evenly-poised after the second day's play at the Wanderers. During the day, Thakur broke many historic records.

"It is my best figures but the best is always yet to come I would say," Thakur told in a post-match press conference.

The 30-year-old Thakur said that the pitch at the Wanderers gave a lot of assistance to the pacers and he spotted a crack in between the back of length to good length area and was trying to hit that region.

"When I started bowling, there was a length somewhere in those 22-yards from where the ball was kicking in (off) and also was staying low a bit. So all I did was to try to hit that spot and hit that crack," the pacer said.

"See both the venues, even when we played in Centurion and here in Joburg (Johannesburg) at the Wanderers, there is and there was some help in the pitch, so all you had to do is keep coming hard at the batsman and bowl in the right spots, I was trying to do the same," he added.

The Mumbai-born cricketer feels match-situation is tricky and India still can't be termed favourites to win at this point.

"The current match-situation, if you see it's tricky. The lead that we take from here and the bigger the target we set, that is good, because as the game progresses and we all know that last two days, it is not that easy to bat on the pitch," he said.

"So, from our team's point of view, the bigger target we set, and take the game long, that is good, because there is a lot of time left in the game," he added.

(With IANS Inputs)