‘Why pick a bowler if you don’t trust him?’ – Dinesh Karthik questions Shardul Thakur’s selection

As the seam-bowling all-rounder, Shardul Thakur was selected for India’s playing XI in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy opening Test match. Nitish Kumar Reddy, who had taken his place and participated in all five games of the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year, was passed over in favour of him.

However, the way captain Shubman Gill utilised Shardul Thakur bowling ability in England’s opening innings did not sit well with former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik. In just six overs, the Mumbai all-rounder gave up 38 runs without taking a wicket. Twenty was the second-lowest number of overs bowled in the first innings by an Indian bowler. Prasidh Krishna gave up 128 runs but took three wickets.

According to Karthik, if the administration doesn’t believe Shardul Thakur can bowl, it is pointless to have him on the team.

The former cricket player turned analyst did concede, though, that Shardul Thakur was unable to put much pressure on the English hitters, which is why he believed Shubman didn’t utilise him with the ball too much.

“Team India’s management needs to consider the Shardul Thakur decision. Why are they playing him if they don’t trust his bowling? That is undoubtedly a problem. Why have you played a bowler if you are not going to trust him? I recognise that you won’t give Shardul an equal chance when you play four fast bowlers,” Karthik stated on Cricbuzz.

“He didn’t bowl very well when he did, but it’s not a good picture to give six overs after bowling so much. I sympathise with Shardul Thakur, but I can see what a Shubman may be thinking. When the other bowlers are bowling, he can put more pressure on England,” he continued.

Despite having chosen him, they have not demonstrated their faith in him: Chopra Aakash
Similar to Karthik, Aakash Chopra blasted the Indian team’s management for not granting the 33-year-old a lengthy contract. The former India opener believes that the team’s management either didn’t believe enough in his ability or didn’t use him enough.

“The use of Shardul Thakur is on my mind. Despite having chosen him, they don’t believe in him. He was costly and bowled a few overs, of course, but you didn’t bowl him at all for extended periods of time. In a video uploaded to his official YouTube page, Chopra stated, ” Shardul Thakur was in single digits, but all bowlers bowled 20-plus overs.”

“The first new ball came and left, the second new ball arrived, and the ball also became old, but either there is a lack of use of resources or the second problem is that you don’t trust him, which is a greater worry. If you don’t believe in him, why did you play him?” he continued.