Despite getting overlooked for the all-rounder’s role in the Indian Test side, Shardul Thakur on Thursday asserted that a player should be considered for selection if he has “quality” after producing another rearguard act to save Mumbai some blushes in the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai on Thursday. The 33-year-old Thakur came to Mumbai’s rescue once again with the bat, smacking five fours and two sixes to make 51 off 57 balls and dragging them to 120 all out from a precarious 47/7 against Jammu and Kashmir.
Thakur’s exploits here at the BKC Ground served a reminder of his maiden First-Class ton in the Ranji Trophy semifinal last season, when he smacked a 105-ball 109 with 13 fours and four sixes coming in at No. 9.
His century took Mumbai from 106 for seven to 378 against Tamil Nadu to set up a win by an innings and 70 runs en route to their 43rd title.
“What can I talk about my quality? Others should talk about it. They should see that if someone has quality, he should be given more chances,” Thakur told the media.
“I like batting in difficult situations. In easy situations, everyone does well, but how you put up the show in adverse situations matters. I see tough situations as a challenge and always think about how to overcome that challenge,” he said.
Thakur also received a setback in the IPL mega auction last December when he went unsold. But for Thakur, “forgetting the past” is critical.
“You have to forget whatever has happened in the past; it is not going to change. It is important to be in the present and think about what you can do in the near future,” he said.
Shardul defended India captain Rohit Sharma who flopped on his Ranji Trophy comeback, saying his passion for Mumbai cricket remains intact.
“He is always passionate about Mumbai cricket. Any Mumbaikar, the way we have seen hardships growing up as teenagers playing maidan cricket, everyone is so passionate about Mumbai cricket that even if they’re playing for India, they follow what (the) Mumbai team is doing,” he said.
“When they come back here, they play as if they are part of this team and they play all (their) heart out.” “To be fair to Rohit, I felt he was just batting in his own zone (and) unlike you said, he wasn’t trying a lot. (He was) just keeping things simple, but yes, (against) new ball, (you get) one chance, (and) it can go anywhere,” he added.
Thakur said Mumbai wanted to see off the new ball and take on the J&K spinners but their batters failed to execute that plan.
“We have seen in BKC that there is help for bowlers in the first one to one-and-a-half hours. But when we see out that phase, runs are easy to come by. Had we played that phase well, we could have scored big,” Thakur said.
“Often it has been seen that moisture quickly goes away whenever we play here. If the bowlers bowl correct lengths in the first hour, they will be able to get wickets. If they miss, it will look good from the outside but often wickets don’t fall.” “We took a chance (to bat first) that did not pay off. The whole idea was to bat first and expecting spin later on,” he said.
Thakur said conditions were tough in the white-ball tournaments Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy, in which his economy rate was high.
In VHT, he took 10 wickets in seven matches at an economy of 6.56, whereas in SMAT he finished as the joint third-highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets in nine matches but at an economy rate of 10.51.
“If you see the domestic T20 or (the) one-day tournament, most teams winning the toss won the match. Games started at 9:00am, there was out-and-out help for fast bowlers for 20 overs. We lost the toss against two good teams, and the pitch became flat after lunch,” he said.
“They were tracks you can hit on from ball one. In such cases, you can’t judge bowlers. On those surfaces any top bowler would get hit; take any top bowler, he will get hit.” “The pitches were made (in) such (a way) that 300-350 were easily scored,” he said.
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