Shardul Thakur has grabbed headlines by becoming the first Indian contracted cricketer to hit the training ground after the central government in its Lockdown 4.0 guidelines allowed sportspersons to train individually in sports complexes.
However, Shardul on Saturday (May 23) landed himself in trouble as he trained on his own despite contracted players requiring permission from the board.
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Speaking to IANS, a BCCI official said it was unfortunate that the Mumbai pacer decided to train without seeking board’s approval.
“He isn’t allowed as he is contracted. Sadly, he went on his own. Shouldn’t have done this, not a smart move,” the official rued.
Notably, all the Indian players have been spending time at home ever since the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed in the country on March 24.
Even after the government relaxed the overall restriction last Sunday (May 17), the Mumbai-based cricketers are staying indoors and have not hit any sports complex as the city is India’s worst-affected with the deadly outbreak.
Interestingly, Team India skipper Virat Kohli and limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma are both in Mumbai along with the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw.
It is pertinent to mention here that Shardul Thakur holds BCCI’s Grade C contract currently.
Sources in the board further said that while Shardul trained in Palghar district – a non-red zone area – it wasn’t very smart on his part to go ahead and train without taking consent from the board at a time when the BCCI is doing everything possible to ensure the safety of the players.
Reports in the media said that Shardul was part of the net session held at the Palghar Dahanu Taluka District Sports Association Ground.
The pacer, who has played 1 Test, 11 ODIs and 15 T20Is, spoke to the media after the session and said that he didn’t use saliva to shine the ball as he abided by the recommendation of the ICC Cricket Committee which has asked players to avoid the traditional practice.
(With IANS inputs)
