SHARDUL THAKUR
Shardul Thakur’s maiden Test appearance came against the West Indies in Hyderabad in 2018 and it ended in pain for him as he suffered a hamstring tear bowling his second over on debut and hasn’t been considered for the Tests again.
However, he picked 3 wickets in the last ODI against Australia and two wickets in the T20I series that succeeded the ODI series and impressed the team management enough, that he was asked to stay back for the Tests as well, albeit as a net bowler.
Thakur has been one of the players whom the BCCI has marked for the future and his performances have been steadily getting better with the white ball. He has also worked on his fitness and the 29-year-old looks ready for his second go in Test cricket.
He also brings the ability with bat to the table and can add handy runs down the order, contributing extra to the team’s total. He is one of the prime candidates to replace Mohammad Shami in the Indian team, given that he is the most experienced one with 12 ODIs and 17 T20Is for India since his debut in 2017.
