Shardul Thakur, who came in as a replacement player for LSG in IPL 2025, shined brightly in their last match against SRH in Hyderabad. He took 4/34 as he silenced the noises that clamored for SRH to break the 300-run barrier.

Shardul’s brilliant bowling saw SRH only score 190/9 in 20 overs, a far cry from the 286 runs, they had scored in their previous match against RR.

Then LSG’s Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh made short work of the chase, as they won by 5 wickets in 16.1 overs. Shardul Thakur was given the Player of the Match award for his excellent bowling.

At the post-match presentation, the pacer spoke about how the game is going more and more towards the batters, and bowlers have very little to play with.

"See, I feel bowlers got very little on these kinds of pitches, and even in the last game pre-match, I said that pitches should be prepared in such a manner that the game hangs in the balance for batters and bowlers," Shardul said at the post-match presentation.

Shardul also criticized the impact player rule, stating that he is not a fan of teams consistently amassing totals of more than 250 in the IPL. Since the regulation was implemented, scores in the competition have risen.

SunRisers Hyderabad had already registered the tournament's second-highest team total (286/6 versus Rajasthan Royals) in its 18th season.

"Especially after the impact sub-rule coming in, it's not fair on bowlers to see scoreboards 250, 260 and 270 runs every time. That's my honest opinion," he added.

Shardul Thakur also revealed that after going unsold in the IPL 2025 auction, he had signed up withthe  English county Essex. However, he got a call from LSG mentor Zaheer Khan, and that changed everything for him.

"I had made my plans. I also signed for county cricket if I was not picked by the IPL. But while we were playing Ranji Trophy knockouts, Mr. Zaheer Khan made a call, and he said we are looking at you as a potential replacement. So don't switch yourself off. Keep your plans ready. Probably, if you come in as a replacement, you will start. So that was the day I tried to get into the IPL mindset again, and the hopes came back," said Shardul.

"But otherwise, I feel this is cricket, and ups and downs keep happening. It was one bad day at the auction where no one picked me up. But cricket's not over, my hopes were high, the talent is there, skills are there. So it's just about staying in the moment and taking it forward from there," he added.

Shardul also revealed his preparations for SunRisers Hyderabad's openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, saying he wants to take his chances against them.

"Of course, some swing, and what we have seen in the past is that Travis and Abhishek love to take their chances. So, I said, okay, let me take my chances as well. Anyway, they are scoring big totals every time they play here in Hyderabad and the majority of the time, those runs have been scored by two of them, or the top three probably.

And few runs in the middle by Klaasen also, but yes, new ball is a thing where you can pick wickets if it swings early on, and I had to take my chances, that's what I tried to do tonight," he concluded.

LSG will next play against (PBKS) at home in Lucknow on April 1.