Aakash Chopra rebukes KKR for how they handled Shardul Thakur: “You gave 10 crores to take him from Delhi”.
Prior to the IPL 2023 auction, KKR acquired Shardul for 10.75 crore from the Delhi Capitals. The IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) finished in seventh place with 12 points after 14 games.
Shardul Thakur took 7 wickets in 11 games while playing and allowed an average of 10 points 47 runs per over. Given that the pacer has a talent for shattering partnerships, Shardul Thakur wasn’t utilized effectively by KKR’s management.
Throughout the competition, KKR made a lot of radical changes. But they ought to have had faith in a lineup. The captain of the KKR, Nitish Rana, had a stellar performance with the bat, scoring 3 half-centuries and amassing 413 runs in 14 games.
In his 11 games during IPL 2023, Shardul Thakur only bowled 21 overs
Chopra chose some of the players for the “AakashVani” show on JioCinema who were underutilized by their franchises. He noted that despite being purchased at a hefty cost, Shardul was underutilized:
”Lord Thakur entered the game at No. 3 once. He didn’t play bowling that day. Then, when he was bowling, he occasionally received one over and occasionally didn’t bowl at all. Taking the No. 3 at times and didn’t bat at all at other times. I didn’t comprehend it at all”.
The former Indian starting pitcher continued:
“You paid 10 crores to take him from Delhi, but he didn’t bowl at all. He was slightly injured, so he probably bowled a little less as a result. A player worth $10 million, an international for India, who has the knack for taking wickets, he makes things happen, but he was not utilized at all”.
Chopra emphasized that Lockie Ferguson was also used insufficiently by KKR. Only three games of the IPL 2023 were played by the New Zealand speedster, who was purchased from the Gujarat Titans for 10 crore.
Aakash Chopra commented on the SunRisers Hyderabad’s poor treatment of Umran Malik by saying, “If it’s up to him, he should leave the franchise today itself”.
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