IPL 2022: Shardul Thakur's top 3 spells in IPL
Match 15 of the IPL 2022 will be held at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai between the Lucknow Super Giants and the Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals, according to the IPL schedule 2022.The Lucknow Super Giants will be looking for their third win in a row. The Capitals have won one and lost one and will be eager to get on the right side tonight once again.
Delhi's bowling attack hasn't been on par so far and that has led the opposition to posting big totals against them this season. While the likes of Anrich Nortje are yet to play a game, Indian pacers haven't yet stepped up for DC.
Shardul Thakur is one such player who can do better, given his ability. He is also closing in a personal landmark. Thakur needs three scalps to gather 150 wickets in T20 cricket.
Shardul Thakur has been quite an all-round asset in the IPL, having picked up 67 wickets in 63 IPL games and scored some match-winning knocks with the bat.
As he gets closer to these landmarks in the coming games, let's take a look at three of his best bowling spells in all the previous editions of the tournament.
#1 3/19 - RPS vs KXIP in IPL 2017
Going back to IPL 2017, match no. 55 was held between the Rising Pune Supergiants and the then Kings XI Punjab at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
The Kings were put to bat and opened with Martin Guptill and Wriddhiman Saha. Guptill was sent back for a duck on the first ball of the innings.
The third over was given to Shardul Thakur and that's where things got worse for the opposition. Straight away he took the wicket of Shaun Marsh, followed by Rahul Tewatia and eventually the dangerous Glenn Maxwell, who was sent back for a duck as well.
As Punjab's batsmen kept tumbling one after the other, they were wrapped up for a mere total of 73 in simply 16 overs. The Rising Supergiants comfortably crossed the line with nine wickets to spare.
Although Shardul wasn't awarded the Player of the Match, he finished with an IPL career-best figure of 3/19.
#2 3/35 - RPS vs RCB in IPL 2017
Shardul Thakur has had his best on-field moments under MS Dhoni's leadership, be it in the Chennai Super Kings camp or the Rising Pune Supergiants. In IPL 2017, when RPS met RCB for the first time, Shardul managed to produce a match-winning performance for his team with much ease.
RCB had won the toss and elected to field. RPS openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi walked in and put up a partnership of over 60 runs. With the help of the middle and lower-middle order, RPS was able to register a total of 161/8.
As the game was being played in Bengaluru, the IPL team defending the total always had the problem of restricting boundaries. RCB came in with the lethal Virat Kohli and Mandeep Singh looking to build a big partnership. However, in the second over the ball was handed to Thakur.
Thakur pulled off an out swinger to get a thick edge from Mandeep. The ball landed into the safe hands of MSD and Singh was sent back without opening his account. When RCB needed 39 off 16 deliveries, Thakur got rid of Pawan Negi with a slower ball. In the same over, he delivered a yorker to clean the stumps off Stuart Binny, thus eliminating all the possibilities for RCB to chase the total successfully.
Thakur closed with a 3/35 and RPS went home, helping RPS win the match by 27 runs.
Check out the updated IPL points table here.
#3 3/38 - CSK vs KKR in IPL Final 2021
CSK's bowling was one of the prime reasons why they were able to lift their fourth IPL title in the previous edition and enter the list of IPL winners. In the big finale versus KKR, the Men in Yellow were put to bat at the Dubai International Stadium. Courtesy of a trailblazer from Faf du Plessis 86 (59), CSK were able to post a total of 192/3.
KKR had the likes of Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Eoin Morgan and more who could swing the game in their favor in no time. But it turned out to be Thakur's night.
Gill and Iyer put a fantastic opening partneship of 91 runs and when it seemed like CSK were slowly losing the game out of their hands, Thakur drew first blood. He pushed Venkatesh Iyer to loft over the extra-cover and was caught out by a brilliant Jadeja.
Next, he sent back Nitish Rana with an amazing change of pace. He finally closed with the timely wicket of Rahul Tripathi who, if given a chance, could have been lethal in the final.
Thakur crushed KKR's dream of winning and returned home with a crucial 3/38 and an IPL trophy.