Shardul Thakur is an Indian cricketer and a right-hand medium-fast bowler. He also plays as a low-order batsman. In February 2020, Shardul Thakur received the offer for the brand ambassador for Tata Power Limited.
Domestic Career
In November 2012, Shardul Thakur played his First-Class debut for Mumbai against Rajasthan at Jaipur in the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy. He didn’t have a flying start to his career. Shardul took four wickets at a bowling average of 82.0 from his first four matches. In the 2013 Ranji season, he took 27 wickets at an average of 26.25 from six games, with a fantastic five-wicket haul. During the 2014-15 Ranji season, he got 48 wickets at an average of 20.81 from ten games, a whopping five five-wicket hauls. Shardul played his List A debut in 2014 for Mumbai in the 2013 Vijay Hazare Trophy competition.
Furthermore, in the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season final, he took eight wickets against Saurashtra and helped Mumbai to win their 41st Ranji Trophy.
Initially, he received criticism for his short height for a quick bowler and for being overweight, but he ultimately out proved everyone to become Mumbai domestic cricket’s best pace bowler.
IPL Career
Shardul Thakur joined Kings XI Punjab for the 2014 Indian Premier League player auction before the 2015 season of the Indian Premier League. Thakur played his debut against Delhi Daredevils, taking one wicket in his spell of four overs. In 2017, he joined the Rising Pune Supergiants for the tenth season of the Indian Premier League. Furthermore, in January 2018, Shardul joined the Chennai Super Kings before the upcoming season.
In 2021, he became the leading wicket-taker for his team Chennai Super Kings taking 21 wickets during the season.
In February 2022, Shardul Thakur joined the Delhi Capitals at the MEGA auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.
International Career
Shardul Thakur joined India’s 16-man squad for India’s Test tour of West Indies in 2016, but he did not play a single match. In 2017, he joined India’s limited-overs squad for the series against Sri Lanka. Thakur played his One Day International (ODI) debut in 2017 during the series against Sri Lanka.
Shardul Thakur became the second Indian cricketer to wear the no. 10 jersey after Sachin Tendulkar, which raised many controversial comments on social media platforms. Because of that, he changed his jersey number to 54. In November 2017, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) retired Tendulkar’s No. 10 jersey in light of the controversy.
Furthermore, he played his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut with the Indian squad against South Africa in 2018. In 2018, he became a part of India’s Test squad for the one-game Test against Afghanistan in June 2018 but didn’t play in that match as well.
Furthermore, in October 2018, he made his Test debut playing against the West Indies, making him the 294th player of the squad to represent Team India in Tests. Moreover, his debut fell short after bowling just ten deliveries, which led to a groin strain in his right leg.
Shardul Thakur became part of the Indian squad for the England tour of 2021. Furthermore, he joined the team as an additional seam bowler during the First Test against England. An injury ruled him out of the following two Tests before returning for the Fourth Test played at the Oval. He scored 57 runs in 36 balls in India’s first innings, reaching his half-century in just 31 balls. This was the fastest half-century in Tests played in England.
Furthermore, he scored a good 60 runs in 72 balls during the second innings to take India past the score of 466. After that, he took three much-needed wickets with his bowling, dismissing Ollie Pope in the first innings and Rory Burns and Joe Root within the second. He played an essential role in securing India’s victory. In September 2021, Thakur made the list of the three reserve players in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup. In October, Shardul replaced Axar Patel in India’s main team for the World Cup. He played two games as part of the playing eleven in the championship.
In the second match against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium in January 2022, Thakur took his first five-wicket haul in Test games. Thakur took the figures of 7/61, which helped India bowl out South Africa at just 229. Furthermore, he provided a quickfire batting performance of 28 runs to assist India’s increasing their lead in the second innings. However, India lost the match. Thakur’s figure at the end of the match figures was 8/108.
