IND vs ENG: Poor handling of Shardul Thakur highlights lack of clarity in India’s bowling plans | Cricket News
MANCHESTER: It has been baffling to see the way Shardul Thakur has been used in this series. The seam bowling allrounder was given just six overs in the first 97 overs of England’s first innings at Old Trafford. Five of those six overs were bowled on the second day. He was not given the ball at all in the first innings in the previous Test that he played in this series, at Headingley. There seems to be some confusion in the way India have gone about their bowling plans for this Test. For a seam bowler to get so little bowling in English conditions has raised a few eyebrows, and Thakur himself did not appears to be pleased, as his words suggested. After the second day’s play on Thursday, Thakur claimed he was equally unaware of the reason behind captain Shubman Gill’s reluctance to bowl him. “If we talk about the first Test, he said there was no chance of bowling. I said okay,” Thakur said in a resigned tone. For the record, England plundered 465 runs in the first innings in just 100.4 overs. “Usually, the captain takes the call. The player doesn’t have much of a say. As far as this match is concerned, the way the game has progressed, I could have been given two more overs. But there is a lot of time left in the game. Hopefully, I’ll get more bowling,” Thakur added. He got just one over to start the day’s proceedings before getting his next over at the fag end of the second session. Gill opened the bowling with debutant Anshul Kamboj, who struggled to find any kind of rhythm. Shardul was the obvious last resort for Gill. It’s not that Thakur has inspired much confidence with the ball either. He has been inconsistent with his line and length. One could argue that he didn’t get the time to settle down and bowl to a plan, having made a Test comeback after spending a lengthy period out of the team. Thakur highlighted the lack of clarity about his role with the ball. “It is always difficult to find your rhythm. You don’t know how much bowling you will get and when you will get it. But whatever experience you have, you will try to use that experience to bowl,” he stated.
On Friday, Thakur got to bowl with the second new ball only because Jasprit Bumrah went off the field after bowling just one over with the second new ball, following which Kamboj again looked ineffective. The team management worked overtime after the defeat in Headingley to zero in on a bowling combination for the second Test. Shardul was the fall guy as Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir went for Nitish Kumar Reddy, an allrounder who is primarily a batter. Reddy looked out of sorts as batter in the two Tests he played but got three important wickets at Lord’s. Gill had asserted that he felt comfortable with a sixth bowler in his armoury. Once the spate of injuries — including to Redy — stung the Indian team over the past week, the team management’s plans went for a toss. The decision to play Thakur was a lastminute one. Captain Gill has to be convinced about how he wants to use Shardul. He can’t be a likefor-like replacement for Reddy. Reddy was taken in the XI in the hope that India would not suffer late-order batting collapses. But taking the ball away from him makes him a less effective cricketer.
