IND vs ENG 2021: "My happy place"- Shardul Thakur shares pictures of him practising before England Tests
Shardul Thakur looks pretty upbeat about the upcoming five-match Test series against England beginning at Trent Bridge, Nottingham from August 4. The all-rounder was seen working on his batting in the nets at Durham on Friday and posted pictures of the same on Instagram.
The 29-year-old has also been working on his swing bowling and is attempting to become a genuine seam-bowling all-rounder that India need in Tests right now.
Will Shardul Thakur play the first Test?
India badly missed a seaming all-rounder in the World Test Championship final defeat at the hands of New Zealand. By not including Moeen Ali in the squad for the first two Tests, England might have made their intentions clear of handing a green top to India upfront.
This means that going in with two spinners might not work for the Indians. At the same time, they cannot play with four specialist seamers as that would lengthen the tail. This is where someone like a Shardul Thakur will really come in handy.
Thakur played the Gabba Test last year and made a brilliant all-round contribution. He scored 67 runs in the first innings and also picked up seven wickets in the game. His ability to produce genuine out-swing can be of great help in an Indian pace attack that is predominantly seam-based.
India's over-dependence on Hardik Pandya has cost them before and they would certainly want to groom Shardul Thakur to take up the role of an allrounder in red-ball cricket. He has proved that he is a wicket-taker and is no mug with the bat. But whom he replaces is another debate.
Both Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma were off-colour in the WTC final and that cost India dearly. If Thakur replaces either of them, it might be a risk-and-reward situation for India. Only time will tell whether the Mumbai lad will straightaway get an opportunity.