By Boria Majumdar
He wasn’t a part of the Indian set-up for a while. Nor was he initially in the IPL. For the record, Shardul Thakur went unsold at the auction and was subsequently drafted in by LSG as a replacement for Mohsin Khan. From being the toast of the nation to being out in the wilderness, Shardul has seen it all.
In fact, by his own admission, all seemed lost when he was left out of the team that travelled to Australia. He had done well down under and was understandably dejected. For two days, he couldn’t do much. “Then it was about picking myself up. What could I do by feeling depressed? Hence, I decided to go back to domestic cricket and do my best. That’s what was in my hands. And that’s what I did,” Shardul had said to me a few days back.
“The skills never go away from you. You know what you need to do. You’ve done it in the past. So why should you be anxious? Just believe in yourself and do the job,” he said.
One of the few who prioritised domestic cricket even before the BCCI diktat, Shardul Thakur is all effort. It is his hard work that has done the trick for him. And if things go well, there is every reason to believe Thakur will be part of the India team that plays England at Leeds on 20 June in the first of the five-Test series.
In fact, I would pick him for Leeds. There will be some assistance on offer and Shardul will be handy with the bat at number 8 as well. He can give India 10–12 overs a day and provide breakthroughs—something we lacked in Australia at the SCG.
What makes Shardul different? First, it’s his all-in approach. “It is about giving your 100 percent. I’ve done well in the past, at all levels of the sport, and there’s no reason why I won’t be able to do it again. The skills are there and if you do the process right, results are bound to come your way,” he had said after picking up 35-plus wickets in the Ranji Trophy season.
Now that Shardul has made a comeback into the national team for the India–England series, the key question is: can he make a telling difference? Can the Lord be the Lord of Leeds?
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If you remember, Ajit Agarkar had said ahead of the Australia tour that the selectors had moved past Shardul. To digest that and yet fight on defines Thakur. He broke open the door and is living his dream. “I just want to play cricket for India. That’s what gives me the greatest joy. If I get one more opportunity, I will give it my all,” is what he had said to me.
He now has his chance. And let’s bet on him to make it count.