Returning to cricket after recovering from the back injury, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is not bowing at full throttle. It is one of the main reasons why he is being overlooked in the Test playing XI.
Pandya was not included in the Test squad against Australia while he didn’t feature in a single game against England in the home Test series despite being in the squad.
Earlier this month, the selectors once again ignored Hardik for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand and the following Test series versus England.
In his absence, the question in everyone's mind is who will play the role of India’s all-rounder in the longest format of the game.
Speaking on the same line, Shardul Thakur's childhood coach Dinesh on Sunday (May 23) said that his ward can fill Pandya’s shoes in the playing XI.
“As a coach, I would want Shardul to be given preference in the WTC final based on how he has been performing of late. He can swing both the ball and bat, and it will be a plus point for India to let Shardul fill that all-rounder’s role. But again, everything depends on the team management and coaches,” Dinesh told Sportskeeda.
“He will definitely get preference in the long run because India are currently lacking in all-rounders. Hardik Pandya was playing as an all-rounder but now he is not able to bowl because of injury. Teams need fast-bowling all-rounders and there is only Shardul Thakur in the queue. But in order to perform well, he needs to get a long run of matches,” he explained.
“They have some 10-12 days window before the first match, so he will get ample time to practice and get used to the conditions. And he recently played against England, so I don’t think he will have any problem. I have just one funda, I have always told him to make the batsman play without thinking about movement, because the batter will make a mistake but in order to make that happen, he needs to be enticed to play.
“He has the ability and hence reached that level, so he just needs to hold a particular line and length to get wickets. He has also learnt to handle pressure, like how we saw him bat in pressure situation and help India win in Brisbane,” he further added.
“He did a few batting sessions with me during the off season. Like Rohit, Shardul is also a naturally attacking player. But he has worked on his patience and now started playing shots along the ground as well,” he concluded.
Shardul Thakur has represented India in 2 Tests so far. His last outing in the traditional format was against Australia at the Gabba earlier this year, where he impressed one and all with his all-round exploits.
Thakur took 7 wickets in the match and played a priceless knock of 67 in India’s first innings as the visitors won the Test by 3 wickets and clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.
