“My role as an all-rounder who bats in the lower order is also important. “
Shardul Thakur returned his career-best ODI figures (4 for 37) in the series decider.
Shardul Thakur has been a fixture on Indian teams in recent years without ever appearing to be so. In Test cricket, he has been selected as the fourth seamer due to the team’s inability to deploy both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Thakur is a candidate for the No. 8 spot in the ODI World Cup, combining seam-bowling responsibilities with Hardik Pandya and providing useful batting and hitting depth lower down the order.
The 31-year-old played every game of India’s ODI series against the West Indies, an assignment that the team was eager to do. While opportunities to showcase his batting skills were limited, a haul of eight wickets at 11.62 from three games provided more evidence of his utility to the team. This included a career-high 4 for 37 in Tuesday’s decisive match in Trinidad.
Thakur said that while it is reasonable for a few players to be considering World Cup selection, he is happy for the opportunities that have come his way and is not looking too far ahead. He is conscious, though, of what he brings to the table. “My role as an all-rounder who bats in the lower order is also important. “We’ve seen that in longer chases or when aiming for a huge total, you’ll attempt to accelerate and lose one or two wickets here and there. If the No. 8 and No. 9 can contribute with someone who has batted deep, that role is critical,” Thakur remarked after India’s 200-run victory.
“Whenever I get the chance, I just try to contribute to the team’s success.” That’s how I think, whether I’m batting, bowling, or fielding. I’m not the type of player who competes for a spot on the team. I don’t think I’ll be able to play with that concept.”
“Even if they [team management] don’t pick me for the World Cup, it will be their decision, and I won’t be able to do much about it.” It would be foolish of me to believe that I must compete for my position, that I must complete my job, and then quit. Whether I achieve personal success or not, I’ll have to wait and see what the match situation is and what the team’s requirements are. That’s something I keep saying: No matter what, I’ll strive to contribute to the team.”
“I only missed one series, the home series against Sri Lanka.” I’m not sure why I wasn’t chosen for it. But I’ve been on every one-day team in the last two years. Whenever I get an opportunity to play, I tell myself that the team believes in me, which is why I’m on the squad. Even in this series, I had the potential to pick up eight wickets.”
While Thakur played in every game of the series, India was unable to give ace legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal a chance. Part of the reason could be the realization that the squad can only employ Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav by sacrificing batting depth. Thakur believes that missing out on a single series will have little impact on Chahal’s confidence.
“We have a very strong bench.” As a result, there may be many occasions when someone will not be able to play a large number of matches or series. Yuzvendra Chahal is a highly skilled player who has shown himself over many years. It is now up to management to decide whether or not to play him. He’s the type of player who will always deliver whenever we put him on the field. We’ve seen him pick up a lot of wickets anytime he plays, whether it’s one-day or T20. He is constantly helpful to the team’s success. So I don’t believe missing one series would demoralize him. ” He has previously won several games,” Thakur said.
The seam spinner also lauded India’s opening combination of Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill, who put up a 143-run opening stand to set up India’s mammoth total of 351, as well as seam bowler Mukesh Kumar, whose three early wickets broke the back of the West Indies’ chase.
“Even in the previous game, we as a group had decided to bat first and challenge ourselves to defend that score, even though our batting didn’t produce the desired results,” Thakur explained. “However, we scored a lot of runs in this game.” When we batted, there was some support for the bowlers. Ishan and Shubman batted brilliantly, giving us a good start. That is why we were able to post such a large total.
“When we came on to bowl, we expected a strong response from the West Indies, but Mukesh bowled a fine spell with the new ball.” He was able to extract what little assistance was available from the pitch. He bowled in the appropriate spots. The first three wickets were crucial. Even after that, Kuldeep, I, and the rest of the bowling unit made significant contributions. Despite taking three early wickets, our main goal was to keep the pressure on even after that. That was the intention.”
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