3 teams where Shardul Thakur would have been a good fit after IPL 2025 Auction ft. Delhi Capitals
Shardul Thakur was among the big unsold names at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. The Indian all-rounder, despite his abilities with both the bat and the ball, did not receive interest from any teams.
While he may not be in his best form, teams could have still considered grabbing Shardul Thakur for his base price of ₹2 Crore. At a lesser price, he would still have been a valuable addition given his IPL and international experience.
It is also argued that the addition of the impact player rule may have played a role in Shardul not earning a contract this season given his current form.
With the auction now concluded and squads set, the franchises will be looking forward to the upcoming IPL season. Many teams have done well at the auction table to build potent squads, stacking their sides with top batters, bowlers, and all-rounders.
However, some franchises could have made use of an all-rounder like Shardul Thakur, looking at their squads after the IPL 2025 auction.
On that note, let us take a look at three such teams and why Shardul would have been a good fit in these teams.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) retained a strong set of players and added on, building a decent-looking squad during the IPL 2025 auction. They retained Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, their top all-rounders.
Adding more firepower, they roped in Rovman Powell and Moeen Ali. However, they might not be able to play all four overseas all-rounders in the XI. Looking at their Indian all-rounders, they have the likes of Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, and Venkatesh Iyer. An experienced Indian all-rounder like Shardul Thakur, who can contribute in both aspects, would have fit well into this KKR side.
Moreover, KKR could also have promoted Shardul up the batting order if needed. While they do have Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora in the team, Umran Malik is their only backup Indian pacer. Being a fast-bowling all-rounder, Shardul could have proved as a handy backup option here too.
SunRisers Hyderabad
SunRisers Hyderabad were also among the teams that retained a strong set of players ahead of the auction. They missed out on the trophy last season, losing in the finals, and will be keen to go the extra mile this time.
Like KKR, the SunRisers have some solid names in their overseas all-rounders list such as skipper Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Brydon Carse, and Kamindu Mendis. However, it will be impossible for them to play all of them together. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshal Patel are their Indian fast-bowling all-rounders.
Compared to the two, Shardul Thakur could have been a strong backup option, who provides more with both bat and ball if either one were to be replaced. Mohammed Shami is their lead Indian pacer with Jaydev Unadkat and Simarjeet Singh in the squad. Shardul could have been a decent bench option for their pace attack.
Delhi Capitals
In a quest for their maiden IPL title, Delhi Capitals have done a good job at the auction to build a solid squad for the upcoming season. With the likes of Jake Fraser-McGurk, Harry Brook, Faf du Plessis, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, and KL Rahul among others, they have enough firepower in the batting.
With Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, T Natarajan, Mohit Sharma, and Mukesh Kumar, the Capitals boast a potent fast-bowling unit. However, apart from Axar Patel, who was retained, they do not seem to have another big name as far as their all-rounders are concerned.
The likes of Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, and Darshan Nalkande are exciting names. However, they have a bunch of uncapped Indian all-rounders in the line-up. In such a scenario, an experienced all-rounder like Shardul Thakur could have added more strength and balance to the team.