'Thank you for recognizing our contribution' - Shardul Thakur thanks Anand Mahindra after receiving brand new Thar SUV

India fast-bowler Shardul Thakur, on Friday, flaunted the Thar SUV gifted to him by Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of Mahindra Group. Mr. Mahindra had promised to gift new Mahindra Thar to six young Indian stars after their impressive performances in the Border-Gavaskar Series Down Under earlier this year.

Apart from Thakur, Mr. Mahindra had also promised to gift the SUV to Shubman Gill, T Natarajan, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, and Navdeep Saini. All the six youngsters had played an integral role in India’s monumental 2-1 win over Australia. The odds were firmly stacked against India as they were without several of their key players including their talismanic skipper Virat Kohli for the better part of the series.

However, the youngsters exceeded all the expectations and performed brilliantly to help the team come from behind to win the four-match series. Thakur played just one game in the series but it was enough for him to make a difference. Thakur played in the fourth and final Test only because the first-choice players were sidelined with injuries.

Thakur justified the call by performing with both bat and ball. In the first innings, he picked up three wickets before he performed with the bat. In reply to Australia’s first-innings total of 369, India were reeling at 186 for 6 when Thakur and Sundar joined hands. The duo scored fighting fifties and shared a crucial 123-run stand to help India post 336.

Thakur had top-scored for India with 67. In the second innings when Australia threatened to post a hefty total, Thakur returned figures of 4 for 61 by rocking the home side’s lower-middle order. India had gone on to win the game by three wickets.

A gesture that the youth of our nation will look up to: Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur definitely deserved recognition for his performance and he duly got it from the fans. Mr. Mahindra, an avid fan of Indian cricket, was also quick to recognise Thakur’s performance. Soon after India’s win in the fourth Test, he had promised to gift him and his teammates the Thar SUV. Thakur received it recently and made sure to thank Mr. Mahindra on Twitter, writing:

“New Mahindra Thar has arrived!! @MahindraRise has built an absolute beast & I’m so happy to drive this SUV. A gesture that youth of our nation will look upto. Thank you once again Shri @anandmahindra ji, @pakwakankar ji for recognising our contribution on the tour of Australia.”

New Mahindra Thar has arrived!! @MahindraRise has built an absolute beast & I’m so happy to drive this SUV. A gesture that youth of our nation will look upto. Thank you once again Shri @anandmahindra ji, @pakwakankar ji for recognising our contribution on the tour of Australia. pic.twitter.com/eb69iLrjYb

— Shardul Thakur (@imShard) April 1, 2021

On Thursday, Natarajan had also thanked Mr. Mahindra after receiving his SUV. The left-arm pacer also took to Twitter to a few pictures with the four-wheeler and also gifted a signed jersey to Mr. Mahindra.