Shardul Thakur returned to the Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad and made an immediate impression.
Shardur spearheaded Mumbai’s bowling attack against Assam so far he has taken five wickets in the game. In the first innings he took two wickets, in the second he took three.
However, Shaadur was surprised to see Assam drop five wickets in the second innings after being forced to follow-on.
“The course was really flat. We had to work for every gate we got. I’m a little surprised that I got 5 wickets after asking first. To be honest, they didn’t think he would lose five wickets,” Shardul told Sportstar on Thursday.
“A wicket or two here and there would have been enough, but five wickets at the end of the day is pretty good for the team…”
Shardur Thakur said he was not part of his squad in the three games he played against India in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, so he was added to Mumbai’s squad for two games against Assam and Delhi. rice field.
Shardur returned to the Mumbai side after some time for a first-class match.
“I feel safe whenever I’m in the locker room and all my teammates are like brothers and we play as one.”
Assam needed 281 on the final day to avoid an innings loss. But with Thakur and Mohit Abasti on fire, it would have taken a miracle for the home side to stop Mumbai’s winning streak.
Starting the day 129 to 1, Assam’s middle order showed intent early on. Expectations were high when he returned to the batting lineup in the second inning, but it was a big mess.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai decided to do a quick delivery. Shardul had some bouncers challenging Assam’s middle his orders, and the strategy worked. “Once the day started, I tried to assess the conditions to see if they were the same or changed a little bit. But it played the same as the first or second day. There were no buys, so I had to come up with a different kind of strategy – hit their pads or roll the bouncers.
“We tried a bowling bouncer for a few overs, where they lost one of his or two of his wickets, so we stuck to the plan and tried to get them on the short ball. Careful use of this strategy resulted in the spinner charging and picking up the wicket…”
It set the stage for perhaps Mumbai’s top spinner of the season so far, Shams Murani, to take four wickets in his first essay. However, Shardul revealed that the plan of throwing bouncers and short throws was spontaneously adopted as each team member found it effective.
“It was a spontaneous decision and we didn’t think much about it. Often times we have to change plans on the ground. And just like that, everyone agreed, ‘Okay, let’s continue with the short-ball strategy’…”
With the KO race heating up, an overall win is essential to keep the fray going before Mumbai travel to Delhi for their next away game. But Shardul doesn’t want to think too far ahead.