Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Shardul Thakur has dismissed injury concerns ahead of the World Test Championship final. He expressed that he did have a niggle, but is now back to bowling. The pacer also explained why he hasn’t bowled much for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2023 Indian Premier League.
Shardul Thakur has only bowled 14.5 overs in eight matches this season. He reasoned that the team has a surfeit of all-rounders this year. He expressed that due to the presence of many all-rounders, he hasn’t gotten many opportunities to bowl this season. However, given an opportunity, he is ready to get the job done for the franchise. Shardul Thakur said to PTI,
“We have a side full of all-rounders with (Andre) Russell, Sunil (Nairne)… We have got a maximum of eight bowling options that also includes Nitish (Rana) who also bowls an over or two nowadays.”
“It also depends on the situation of the game, if the captain feels the need to bowl me or not bowl me completely depends on him. As far as teams’ strategy decision-making is concerned, I would not pay attention to it a lot,” he added.
Shardul Thakur further stated, “I had a small niggle, so I didn’t play a few games, when I came back, I didn’t bowl as I was not bowling fit. But yes, now I’m back to bowling and hopefully, whenever I get the ball, I will get the job done.”
It is difficult and not easy: Shardul Thakur on keeping the body in shape for the WTC final
Shardul Thakur is one of the fast-bowling options for Team India against Australia in the squad for the World Test Championship final, which will take place from June 7 to June 11 at the Kennington Oval in London. The pacers have a challenge before them to keep themselves fit ahead of the mega-clash. Speaking about it, Shardul Thakur said,
“It is difficult and not easy. It’s difficult in the sense of body-wise because when you go in for practice, you literally have to do everything — fielding practice, bowling, and batting. On top of that, you have to do a bit of running around to stay fit.”
“Overall, it’s not easy. But yeah that’s the challenge in modern-day’s cricket that you have to manage your body to stay fit and keep going,” he added.
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