Shardul Thakur has had a fantastic year in 2021. Everything has gone his way, from Gabba to the T20I series at home against England, to the Test series in England.
In fact, Thakur embodies the term “everything he touched turned to gold.” Thakur is already putting in strong performances for Chennai Super Kings in the second leg of the IPL 2021.
Virender Sehwag, a former Indian batsman, hailed the bowling all-rounder for his outstanding efforts in the IPL.
He specifically mentioned the match between Chennai and Kolkata, in which Thakur delivered an outstanding stint, ensuring that the opposition batters did not get many runs.
Chennai, bowling initially, had an uphill task in limiting Kolkata Knight Riders’ hitters to a low total. KKR were finally dismissed for 171 runs, however Thakur had only bowled four overs for 20 runs.
Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell, two threatening batters, were also taken out by him. On Cricbuzz Live Hindi, Sehwag stated that Thakur was an important cause in KKR’s failure to achieve a high score.
Sehwag discusses improvement in Thakur’s bowling
“It would be unfair to say that the pitch suited Shardul. It was his bowling skills – yorkers, knuckleballs, or slower bouncers – which should be credited for his excellent performance. The only reason KKR was unable to score 200 runs in that game was Thakur’s death bowling, especially when he got Russell out. He isn’t called ‘Lord Shardul’ just like that,” Sehwag said.
Thakur’s bowling appears to have vastly improved since his return from England. He has taken six wickets in four matches in the second leg. Thakur appears to have added a lot of variations to his arsenal in the last year, which has greatly aided his T20 bowling.
In fact, half of Thakur’s IPL wickets have come in the last overs (16-20 overs). Former Indian bowler Ashish Nehra praised Thakur’s ability as well.
“Yes, he (Thakur) has added variety to his arsenal. But he did decline his traditional seam-up outswing bowling recently, which he has eventually increased bowling now and it is proving fruitful for him. He now knows how to use his variety in what situation of the game and bowled the right balls at the right time,” Nehra added.