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Shardul Thakur - an 'un'-inspired selection for India?

Very mediocre, over-weight cricketer who would struggle to make the 2nd 11 in county cricket.
 
England on Tuesday made history as the side chased down 378 runs, their highest successful chase in Tests. It was Jasprit Bumrah-led India which was on the receiving end of England's historic feat at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The Ben Stokes-led side reached home in 76.4 overs with seven wickets in hand as the duo of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow stitched an unbeaten partnership of 269 runs to keep India at bay. The guests saw a glimmer of hope when England were 109/3 at one stage but unbeaten centuries from Root and Bairstow completely took an Indian victory out of equation.

Jasprit Bumrah picked two wickets for 74 runs in the final innings of the match while all the other Indian bowlers remained wicketless. The most expensive bowlers in the innings were Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur, who bowled at the economy rates of 6.5 and 5.9, respectively.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Thakur is not as effective that he used to be in Test cricket around one-and-a-half years back.

"I think Shardul Thakur is not the same bowler we saw in Test cricket, maybe 18 months back," said Manjrekar on SonyLIV after the match.

While talking about Siraj, the former India batter said: "I have been watching Mohammed Siraj's evolution as a bowler. The seam-up delivery has just gone."

In the match, India posted 416 runs after getting an invitation to bat first. The guests then bundled out England for 284 to take a 132-run first-innings lead. The Jasprit Bumrah-led side faltered in its second innings and got bowled out for 245, while England chased down the 378-run target by scoring at a rate of close to five runs per over.

NDTV
 
Brisbane test has to be the biggest choke job in test history. Australia got turned over by Gill( not ready) thakur (not test class) Sundar ( not a test standard spinner) Natranjan(who)

A biggest facepalm moment for Cricket Austrialia.
 
Shocking this guy has been allowed to play with such poor fitness. Kohlis fitness crusade has been ignored
 
Brisbane test has to be the biggest choke job in test history. Australia got turned over by Gill( not ready) thakur (not test class) Sundar ( not a test standard spinner) Natranjan(who)

A biggest facepalm moment for Cricket Austrialia.

Pant was the exception! And we were chasing that mattered...
 
The enormity of representing India in an ICC World Test Championship Final is not lost on Shardul Thakur.
India’s 31-year-old pacer feels like a familiar face in the Indian set-up, but would be making just his ninth appearance in Test cricket were he to get the nod for this week’s match against Australia at The Oval in south London.

Thakur told the ICC that he is determined to make every opportunity count in an Indian jersey, with the chance to be selected in an ICC Final representing a once-in-a-lifetime moment for him.

“I feel that ICC event finals especially, you don’t get to play them everywhere each and every year, so it’s, for a few players or somebody like me, a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” Thakur said.

“All that I want is to make it count. It’s always a special moment when you’re representing your country – especially India, when there’s a billion people out there who dream of playing for the nation and only the best 15 have been chosen to represent the country.

“Especially being involved in this Final, from 7 June onwards in England for the World Test Championship, it feels really special, I’m honoured.”

Three of Thakur’s eight Test appearances have come in England, when he took eight wickets and scored two fifties in the last series India played in the country.

And it was at The Oval, the host venue for this week’s WTC Final, where Thakur truly excelled. Coming in with India in trouble in the first innings, he struck a counter-attacking 36-ball 57, before contributing to a heavy lower-order total in the second innings with his excellent 60.

And with the ball Thakur was excellent in that match too, troubling England’s top order throughout and dismissing Ollie Pope, Rory Burns and Joe Root.

“It’s always good to remember your previous performances on a particular ground, but every game is a fresh start,” he said, when asked about that Oval display.

“It’s different opponents this time around, but yeah it’s always good to take motivation from what you’ve done in the past on a particular ground.”

The exact make-up of India’s playing XI is yet to be confirmed, with Rohit Sharma saying in Tuesday’s media conference that he will wait until the first morning before announcing the team.

But Thakur will be heavily in contention to play as the third quick due to his ability to move the ball and provide runs down the order, and he could also be part of a potential four-pronged seam attack should India opt against playing both of their spinners.

Ashwin names surprise key moment on India’s path to WTC Final
Thakur would be particularly useful if there are any overcast periods during a match in which the forecast suggests the weather should be set largely fair.

“I think England is challenging because the weather here is a bit funny,” Thakur said. “When the sun’s out it is good for batting, when it’s overcast it’s good for bowling, so the toss hardly matters, it’s all about the cloud cover.

“Obviously the pitch also plays an important role, but we’ve seen in the past that whenever there’s cloud cover the ball suddenly starts swinging and you can’t really predict how much the ball is going to move, so that’s one of the biggest challenges that a batter faces.

“When it’s not swinging England’s also got the best pitches to bat on, so it becomes equally tough for bowlers. Even in the helpful conditions it’s sort of important to find the right length to nick a batter off or hit his pads, so this is a country that’s challenging.”

ICC
 
Against the run of play - Thakur gets Warner!

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Has he impressed anyone today? He has certainly bowled a few jaffa's today, including the ball to get Rizwan out. Or do you think this pitch is making every pacer look like a magician?
 
Shardul is a make believe allrounder for India. There are a lot of scenarios that come to my mind when Shardul would come to bat but he winning a match with his batting in a pressure game isn't one of them.
 
Has he impressed anyone today? He has certainly bowled a few jaffa's today, including the ball to get Rizwan out. Or do you think this pitch is making every pacer look like a magician?
I am surprized how this wicket turned into the one like a Perth, i have never seen such seam and swing before.
 
During India vs Australia 2nd odi at Indore Mark Waugh said "Shardul Thakur is a bits and pieces cricketer".
Totally agree with him
 
Cant bat, cant bowl, cant field.

It seems like India is being dumb carrying this weak link in the squad.
India is a little too timid when it comes to taking tough decisions and the chances are he will not be dropped for the wc while he has no role to play the cup. Just like our management doesn't drop jaddu from playing xi while he's massively overrated odi cricketer.
 
Former India paceman Rudra Pratap Singh spoke on local Indian media about Shardul Thakur, who was picked by the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL Auction for IPL 2024:

"I feel Shardul Thakur because he is an Indian fast bowler with variations and gives a big option in batting. Considering that, the Chennai Super Kings got him at a very good price. I feel the Chennai Super Kings would have kept a little more money for Shardul."
 
Shardul Thakur, while interacting with the media, told:

"What can I talk about my quality? Others should talk about it. They should see that if someone has quality, he should be given more chances."

"I like batting in difficult situations. In easy situations, everyone does well, but how you put up the show in adverse situations matters. I see tough situations as a challenge and always think about how to overcome that challenge."

"You have to forget whatever has happened in the past; it is not going to change. It is important to be in the present and think about what you can do in the near future."

"He is always passionate about Mumbai cricket. Any Mumbaikar, the way we have seen hardships growing up as teenagers playing maidan cricket, everyone is so passionate about Mumbai cricket that even if they're playing for India, they follow what (the) Mumbai team is doing."

"When they come back here, they play as if they are part of this team and they play all (their) heart out." "To be fair to Rohit, I felt he was just batting in his own zone (and) unlike you said, he wasn't trying a lot. (He was) just keeping things simple, but yes, (against) new ball, (you get) one chance, (and) it can go anywhere."

"We have seen in BKC that there is help for bowlers in the first one to one-and-a-half hours. But when we see out that phase, runs are easy to come by. Had we played that phase well, we could have scored big."

"Often it has been seen that moisture quickly goes away whenever we play here. If the bowlers bowl correct lengths in the first hour, they will be able to get wickets. If they miss, it will look good from the outside but often wickets don't fall." "We took a chance (to bat first) that did not pay off. The whole idea was to bat first and expecting spin later on."

"If you see the domestic T20 or (the) one-day tournament, most teams winning the toss won the match. Games started at 9:00am, there was out-and-out help for fast bowlers for 20 overs. We lost the toss against two good teams, and the pitch became flat after lunch."

"They were tracks you can hit on from ball one. In such cases, you can't judge bowlers. On those surfaces any top bowler would get hit; take any top bowler, he will get hit." "The pitches were made (in) such (a way) that 300-350 were easily scored."
 
Shardul Thakur, the man of crisis for LSG...another brilliant performance by him with the ball 4/34 against SRH.
 
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