India’s flamboyant all-rounder Shardul Thakur astonishingly chose the IPL 2025 contract over Essex County Cricket. Shardul Thakur has been signed in for 2 Crores by LSG as a replacement for the injured pacer Mohsin Khan. Initially, Thakur was unsold in the mega auction despite being a part of 5 different teams: CSK, DC, KKR, PBKS, KKR & RPS(*Rising Pune Super Giants doesn’t exist now). Shardul is all set to play the opening match against DC on 24th March 2025 at Vishakhapatnam
Shardul Thakur not quite a regular member of India Test team
Shardul Thakur hasn’t represented India since the 2023-24 Test series against South Africa. He was dropped after the opening Test match which India had lost. Shardul Thakur was ignored for the entire 10 Test matches by selection panel an for Australian Tests. The rookie Nitish Kumar Reddy (*298 runs at 37.25 in BGT 2024-25 & bowled 44 overs across 5 Tests) made the most of the opportunity & got the nod over Shardul Thakur being a part of the iconic 2020-21 BGT Test series triumph.
Despite making Test match debut way back in 2018-19 , he has played only 11 Test matches. Shardul Thakur has taken 31 wickets at an average of 28.08. Among Indian seamers with 30 wickets, only Jasprit Bumrah (42) has a strike rate better than Thakur’s 47.
IPL over County Cricket contract?
We all perhaps are forgetting that India is set to play 5 Test match series against England in their back yard commencing from 20th June. IPL final is to be played on 25th May. Shardul Thakur who isn’t a regular member of Indian test side would undoubtedly would have benefitted from playing 7 county matches for Essex; his decision to prioritize IPL can backfire very brutally.
It won’t be wrong to say that the IPL contract is becoming the ultimate goal. Essex has also issued a statement about Shardul Thakur’s unexpected exit from deal. After playing close to two & half months of IPL, switching to red ball won’t be an easy task for all of India’s fast bowling contingent comprising.
Shardul Thakur’s terrific comeback in domestic cricket
After being ignored for BGT 2024-25, In 10 Ranji Trophy matches while playing for Mumbai, Thakur took 35 wickets at 23.11 to go with 543 runs at 38.78. Shardul has been a force to reckon if we go with recent performances. In the 2021-22 England Test series, he had taken 8 wickets at 33.37 strike rate & scored 122 runs at 24.40.
Shardul Thakur can be an automatic choice for England Tests given his dual role of fourth seamer and No.8 batter. The back injury has been a thorn in flesh for the all-rounder where BCCI needs to closely monitor his workload if he is in the scheme of things by the selection panel & management.