Former Indian batter Suresh Raina said Shardul Thakur will return to CSK at the IPL 2024 auction. The Former player supported his statement by saying MS Dhoni used the witty all-rounder Shardul Thakur smartly during his time with CSK and they will be keen to get his services for IPL 2024.
Shardul Thakur has played for the Chennai Super Kings(CSK) during the 2018-21 IPL seasons but was released ahead of the mega auction in 2022. The All-rounder added a lot of value to the playing 11 with his skills. He picked 55 wickets at an average of 27.52 for CSK. Shardul’s most productive season with the ball came in 2021 for CSK where he claimed 21 scalps proving his wicket-taking abilities.
CSK tried to buy him back in 2022 but failed and he was eventually picked by the Delhi Capitals for 10.75 crores and was traded to Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) for IPL 2023.
Shardul Thakur is very similar to Pat Cummins- Suresh Raina
Speaking in the mock IPL auction on Jio Cinema on Monday, Raina said,
“He is very similar to Pat Cummins. He has done well in the bowling department as well as with the bat. KKR, I don’t think used him in that manner. When he played for CSK, he has done really well. He brought a lot of quality with the older ball as well as the new ball. (Deepak) Chahar is a bit injury-prone, and (Matheesha) Pathirana also is. He is an all-rounder like Deepak Chahar,”
“He (Shardul) understands the CSK administration, he understands the leadership. And MS astutely used him well. I think he is (can be) an important buy. I think, like Abhinav Mukund said, he is a very important Indian bowler. And his form will be crucial,” Suresh Raina added.
Shardul has not been in his best form with the ball in the previous seasons but played some memorable innings with the bat establishing himself as a handy allrounder. Playing for DC in IPL 2022, he picked 15 wickets in 14 games at an economy of 9.79 but played some handy knocks down the order with the bat scoring 120 runs at a strike rate of 137.93. In IPL 2023, he played for KKR but failed to play all the matches. He could pick up just 7 wickets in 11 games at an economy of 10.48 but managed to score 113 runs at 161.43 which includes his maiden IPL fifty against RCB.
Shardul Thakur will go under the hammer in Set 2
Shardul Thakur has set his base price at 2 crores and will appear in set 2 of the auctions which include some explosive all-rounders and might be the biggest target set for all teams in the mini-auction.
CSK have 31.40 crores in their purse and with just six slots to fill with 3 overseas slots, they might go all out for one or two players.