"Happy Birthday to the greatest all-rounder this game has seen" - Shardul Thakur receives special wishes as he turns 32
Members of the cricketing fraternity and fans extended warm wishes to Indian bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur as he turned 32 on Monday, October 16. He is currently in Pune with the Indian team, preparing for their next match of the 2023 World Cup.
Thakur made his international debut in 2017 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Since then, he has played 46 ODI matches and picked up 64 wickets at an average of 30.54 for Team India. He has always been a wicket-taker but has shown a tendency to leak runs, which is clear with his high career economy rate of 6.21.
Shardul Thakur has been preferred by the team management ahead of Mohammed Shami in the ongoing 2023 World Cup. He missed the first match against Australia but played in the next two games against Afghanistan and Pakistan.
On the occasion of his 32nd birthday on Monday, members of the cricket fraternity and fans were quick to wish him on social media.
Here are some of the wishes:
"If you're playing Shardul Thakur for batting depth, you might as well give him time in the middle" - Ashish Nehra to Indian management
Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra recently opined that the team management should have given batting opportunity to Shardul Thakur during the match against Pakistan, as they were on the brink of win when they lost Rohit Sharma's wicket.
He felt that such an experience could have given some exposure to Thakur for upcoming games, as the management has been preferring him for batting depth.
"I would go to the extent of saying that India could have sent Shardul to bat when Rohit Sharma got out as they just needed 35 runs. There has been a lot of debate about whether Shardul should play or should it be Ashwin or Shami. So if you're playing him for batting depth, you might as well give him time in the middle," Nehra told Cricbuzz.
In the same interview, Virender Sehwag said:
"India excelled in all departments but could have given game time with the bat for the likes of Shardul, Hardik and Jadeja. When your top four keep on scoring runs and suddenly one day they are dismissed, your lower middle order needs to perform. There's nothing like game time no matter how much you practice in nets. Runs under the belt are important."
Do you agree with Ashish Nehra and Sehwag's views above? Let us know in the comments section.