Former India player turned famous commentator Aakash Chopra believes Team India should play Shardul Thakur before the pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the T20 World Cup 2021 game against New Zealand. He said that because the speedster is still struggling in his form.
However, the Indian team management selected Bhuvneshwar Kumar in their first match against Pakistan but he looked ineffective as well. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra opened up on this.
“In my opinion, they should think about Shardul Thakur, and I will say they should play him. It is because Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a phenomenal bowler over the years, but the current form is totally missing,” Chopra responded.
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“The ball is not reaching there, with the pace it used to. I know it is not ideal, you don’t want to make too many changes in your team, but Lord Thakur has something. Lord hai to mumkin hai,” he continued.
Notably, Shardul Thakur picked up 21 wickets in the recently concluded IPL 2021, whereas Kumar took just six wickets in 11 games.
“I wanted to play him even in the first match against Pakistan” – Aakash Chopra on Shardul Thakur
While talking about that Shardul Thakur can concede more runs, Aakash Chopra said that he can be risked considering the lengthy boundaries in Dubai as well. Meanwhile, Thakur has picked up 23 wickets in 15 T20Is since 2020.
“He has got that wicket-taking ability. He can be expensive at times, but you might want to play a punt with him on such a big ground. He can give an over in the powerplay, one or two overs in the middle and one over in the end,” he explained.
“To be very honest, if you see fast bowlers, you don’t have any option other than Shardul outside. I am very tempted. Actually, I wanted to play him even in the first match against Pakistan. And again I am saying to play him,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
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