Should Shardul Thakur be in the playing eleven in the ODI world cup? | Cricket News

Shardul Thakur’s most potent weapon in the ODI series decider was the bouncer. Two sharp bouncers accounted for two of his four wickets. None of them were rapid balls—Romario Shepherd one clocked 134 kph and Alzarri Joseph one nudged 136 kph. The Tarouba surface was not lightning fast either. He is not the archetypal spewer of bouncers—he is neither too tall nor whippy. That then is the essence of Thakur’s bowling, the heart of his craft—his ability to grab wickets in the unlikeliest fashion in the unlikeliest conditions—and his unique selling point in sealing his spot in the World Cup squad.
From the outside, and given his recent form in this format, his place looks certain. He has been his country’s most regular personnel in the last two years, a two-year churn partly in pursuit of the perfect combination and partly in a bid to keep their front-line options fit and fresh for big-ticket games. He has been India’s most prolific seamer too in this span, in fact since the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup. In 33 games, he has picked up 52 wickets at 28. The next best in Kuldeep Yadav, 48 in 33 games.
Yet, his berth in the World Cup is not as straightforward as it appears, and depends on various factors other than his form and utility. In fact, it is complex. A lot would depend on the likely conditions and composition of the squad the selectors and team management envisages. If they want an extra batsman, Thakur could be overlooked; if they desire to choose an extra spinner, Thakur could be ignored too.

Fiery pace ⚡, wily spin 💫 & terrific catching 🔥
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Horically, two seaming-bowling all-rounders for a World Cup in the subcontinent is rare, even redundant now that Hardik Pandya has returned and is almost certain to be locked into the first eleven. Though Pandya is injury-prone, a cover for a seam-bowling all-rounder looks improbable.
In the 2011 edition, India had none. Then, what happened in 2011 cannot be a blind guide to what could happen in 2023. A lot has changed, the game, players, the prerequisites. India did not carry a seam-bowling all-rounder chiefly because they did not own a quality one, apart from a fading Irfan Pathan. Besides, they possessed a posse of batsmen who could bowl spin.
Even the altered perspectives, it could be assumed that if he does not make it, then he would be in the “just missed bus” group; if he makes it, then he would be in the “just in the squad l.” In that sense, to pick him or not would be the most aching headache for the selectors. The World Cup fate does not overwhelm Thakur though. “I don’t think I should play for my spot. I’m not that kind of player,” he said. Such a thought would be counter-productive, he said after the four-wicket haul: “If I play with that thought, I’d never be able to play. If they don’t take me for the World Cup, it’s their call. I can’t do much about it. But it’s wrong of me to think I should play [for] my spot.”
India’s Shardul Thakur celebrates with teammate Ishan Kishan taking the wicket of West Indies’ Shimron Hetmyer during the third ODI cricket match at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Thakur is a straight-talker, someone who does not wear pretences. So probably, the World Cup spot might not be obsessing him. Or it could be that the reply was a defense mechanism, for him to not think deeply into the future. But the bigger question here is his form, role and function. In this regard, it’s time to judge him as a pure bowler rather than seam-bowling all-rounder, or through the lens of Pandya. In fairness, he has batted little in this format. Since his unbeaten 40 in Paarl, he has batted only 13 times in 23 games, most often in the last five overs for a free-swing. The highest he has batted is at No 6, recently in Bridgetown. He combusted. But the batting promise exs, across formats, as he has demonstrated in the past.
But the primary yardstick of evaluation should be his bowling. His tendency to bleed runs is a drawback. He leaks 6.16 runs an over, and on his bad days could be scattergun. Thirteen times in 38 games has he been plundered for seven or more runs in a game (than is once every in three games). But the bright spot is that he has purchased wickets across conditions and in different situations. He has prospered on flat decks and spinning surfaces, relished on swinging and seaming beauties, bowls with the new ball, old ball, semi new ball, semi old ball, can bowl in the power-play, middle-overs and at the death. When the conditions favour, he can swing, on placid pitches, he can make one ball suddenly seam, he is as dexterous with the bouncer as he is with the slower-ball. He possesses both the cutters and the knuckle-ball.
With the notable exception of Bumrah no other Indian seamer possesses as much variety as Thakur does, which could be handy in the subcontinent. But he does not own the skiddy sharpness of Shami or the bite of Siraj so as to displace them unless India crave for batting depth.
In such a scenario as India requiring batting depth without compromising on their bowling resources, Thakur could be the first resort. It benefits him that none of India’s first-choice trio averages more than seven with the bat in this format. “In the last few years, we’ve played with a deep batting line-up. As an allrounder who bats in the lower order, my job becomes important. We’ve seen in big chases—or if you want to put up a high score in the first innings— that if you try to accelerate, you will lose one or two wickets here and there. If your No. 8 and No. 9 can contribute with the set batter, it helps. So that role is crucial,” Thakur explained.

Apart from his gifts, he infuses energy, plays with heart, fights till the end. and has a knack of producing a burst of magic in adverse conditions. Be it in Brisbane, or Oval 2021, or Johannesburg, he had produced such moments of unanticipated brilliance. India could harness such gifts in as high-pressure tournaments as the World Cup. Thakur himself might not be losing sleep over his spot, he would induce the most aching of aching headaches for the selectors. And it benefits him that he keeps showing a different layer of his game in every outing. The bouncers did the trick in Tarouba. What would it be in his next game; his outswinger?