Shardul Thakur, an emerging Indian bowling all-rounder, revealed that he had a conversation with Indian team management in which he was informed that they are looking at him as a player who can feature for the Indian team in all three formats of the game and deliver consistently.
Thakur picked up a four-fer for the Sanju Samson-led India A side in the first unofficial ODI of a three-match series against New Zealand A on Thursday (September 22) at MA Chidambaram The Mumbai player has so far played for the Indian men’s cricket team in 25 T20 Internationals, 24 ODIs, and 8 Tests. He has excelled with both bat and ball. He participated in the postponed Test match against England at Edgbaston in July of this year, and his final ODI game came on August 22 against Zimbabwe. His inclusion in the Indian side for the three-match ODI series against South Africa is likely to happen next month.
The ‘Palghar cha raja,’ who returned from the first encounter against New Zealand A in Chennai with the stats of 8.2-1-32-4, remembered his discussion with the Indian team management and expressed his desire to play a regular role for the national team.
Shardul Thakur said, “In the first conversation between them (Indian team management) and me, they conveyed to me that I am a three-format player for them. They are looking at me in all three formats. After that, we really did not sit and have a chat because we have been playing games regularly.”
He added, “If you see, the schedule is packed. The Indian team is playing series after series with a gap of just four to five days. No one has really had time to sit and chat with each other. I am bowling well, getting wickets. Even in the last two white-ball series that I’ve played, I have taken wickets. So I am definitely looking for a national call again whenever they want my services.”
In the T20 World Cup last year, Shardul was a member of the Indian team; but, this year, he was not given much thought in terms of team selection. His last T20 International came against West Indies in Kolkata on February 20, 2022.
