The current Indian cricket team has had the luxury of two genuine all-rounders in the shape of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. However, more often than not they have been competing for the same spot in the team specially whenever the Indian team is on an overseas tour and the pitches are not very conducive to spin. Ever since the exit of Kapil Dev, the Indian team has lacked an all-rounder who can form a part of India’s pace battery. For some time, Hardik Pandya seemed to be a bright prospect, but somehow, he has not been able to carry his limited over heroics to the longer version of the game.
The advent of Shardul Thakur, however, has brought in high hopes as one who can be accommodated in Kapil Dev’s rather oversized shoes. This rather fresh entrant to the Indian Test team has proved his worth on foreign soil and his two half centuries in the crucial fourth Test against in the recently concluded Test Series against England have established beyond doubt that this lad can handle pressure at the highest level of the game.
At the time of our going to press, Shardul in his short career of just four Tests has a batting average of 38.00 and a bowling average of 22.7 which clearly gives an indication of him being a genuine all-rounder. He has a very similar ratio in T20 Internationals although he needs to prove an equal versatility in One Day Internationals. However, in terms of economy Shardul’s performance is far from being impressive. While conceding more than three runs in an over in Tests is not of much consequence, his conceding close to seven runs per over in ODIs and over nine runs an over in T20Is can be worrisome for any team captain.
Born at Palghar, Maharashtra, in October 1991, Shardul Narendra Thakur has had several misfortunes in his cricketing career. While he made his first-class debut for Mumbai in 2012, he had a poor start to his career but came into the limelight a few years later when in a Ranji Trophy final match against Saurashtra, he took eight wickets to carry Mumbai to victory. Very soon, he was included in the sixteen member Test team for a tour of the West Indies but did not play a single Test. He had to wait till February 2017 to make an international debut when he was included in the first eleven to play a One Day International against Sri Lanka.
Appearing in coloured clothes with the number 10 behind his shirt, Shardul created quite a furore for a number which till then had been worn only by Sachin Tendulkar. In fact, Rohit Sharma has even said to have chided Shardul for his temerity as a consequence of which Shardul has now chosen number 54 as his jersey number. Shardul had to wait for another six months before he could make his T20 International debut against South Africa and then another eight months for making his Test debut against the West Indies.. The latter may have been probably the shortest debut as a groin injury put him out of play.
Even in the Indian Premier League, Shardul has been far from impressive. He was bought initially by Kings XI Punjab, then Pune and now finally by the Chennai Super Kings. Believe it or not, Shardul has one of the most unimpressive records in the IPL. Having played in 52 IPL matches, he has just 51 wickets at an average of 31.5 and an economy rate of 9.13 runs per over. What is even worse is that he has a batting average of just seven.
However, his failings of the past should now be consigned to a pack of bad memories. His performance in the very last segment of the Australian tour and now once again in the last segment of the English tour have finally exposed his true mettle and of what he is capable. So let us now keep our fingers crossed to watch him in action in the last segment of IPL 2021. With such an impressive Test record, Shardul Thakur is bound to be a changed player in the IPL; while he would be performing with confidence his opponents will definitely be facing him a sense of awe.
With a versatile performance in Tests, India can remain comforted that it has finally found a genuine all-rounder who is a pace bowler but there is also a sad part to the whole story; with Shardul Thakur turning 30 this month, India may have exhumed an all-round talent just a bit too late.
Credit : Gp Capt Achchyut Kumar (The Teenager Today)
Picture Credit : Google
