How Shardul Thakur went from unpicked at auction to early Purple Cap holder in IPL 2025: ‘Got a call from Zaheer Khan…’ | Ipl News
After not finding any takers during the mega auction late last year, Shardul Thakur has not just found a new home for IPL 2025 but made a rousing start to the campaign. After a couple of wickets in the opening game against Delhi Capitals, he picked up four against the high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad batting lineup on Thursday in Hyderabad.
Speaking after his player of the match performance, Thakur said he got a call from Lucknow Super Giants’ mentor Zaheer Khan during the Ranji Trophy recently, asking to be ready for a call-up. “I had signed up for County Cricket if I wasn’t picked for IPL. But while playing Ranji knockouts, I got a call from Zaheer that they are looking at me as a potential replacement, so don’t switch yourself off. If we get you in as a replacement, we’ll need you to start. That was the day I got back in the IPL zone.
LSG had named Thakur as a replacement for left-arm fast bowler Mohsin Khan, who was ruled out of the season due to injury. Thakur was signed from the Regered Available Player Pool at his reserve price of INR 2 crore. Before IPL 2025, Thakur had played 95 matches for five franchises. Yet, he found no takers from the 10 teams at the auction tables in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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“That was a bad day when I wasn’t picked in the auction. Ups and downs keep happening in cricket,” Thakur said after his 4/34.
On Thursday night, in his 2nd match for LSG, he achieved the landmark of 100 wickets in the IPL too, taking his tally to six this season. He is the 25th bowler to reach the 3-figure mark in IPL, incidentally now only two behind the man who made the call letting him know to be ready: Zaheer Khan.
