Off The Field

Essential to bring in the variations in white-ball cricket: Shardul Thakur

Written by Vishwas Gupta

Shardul Thakur finished as the pick of the bowlers as India beat England by 7 runs in the third and final ODI to win the series 2-1 at the MCA stadium.

Team India fast bowlers Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar got together for a candid chat after the home side’s thrilling win over England in the final ODI in Pune on Sunday.

India beat England by 7 runs in the third and final ODI to win the series 2-1 at the MCA stadium. The bowlers were put under pressure by Sam Curran, who made 95 not out, but India held their nerves and managed to defend 329 in the final over.

Shardul Thakur bagged 4 wickets while Bhuvi took 3 as England were restricted to 322 for 9 in 50 overs.

“When I came to bowl 3 wickets had already gone, Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler seemed like they were in good form. I tried to take their wickets because they bat very deep.

“It is essential to bring in the variations in white-ball cricket. I try to bring in the cutters, slower-ball bouncers, etc to outfox the batsmen.

“We knew the batting lineup is strong and they will punish us if we don’t bowl well. Especially with this team,” Shardul told Bhuvneshwar.

Asked if he is still thinking about making a comeback in Tests, Bhuvneshwar replied: “Of course, red-ball cricket is in my radar. I will prepare to keep the red ball in mind. Although what kind of team will be selected for Test matches is an entirely different scenario.

“My workload management and training during IPL will be keeping red ball in mind because I know there’s a lot of Tests ahead and my priority still is Test cricket. So from my end, I will do everything to get ready for the Test series,” the UP seamer said during the virtual conference after India beat England by seven runs to clinch the series 2-1.

About the author

Vishwas Gupta