Shardul Thakur has got a place in Team India for the final of the ICC World Test Championship. (File pic)
New Delhi: Former New Zealand fast bowler Scott Styris has said a lot about Team India and Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Shardul Thakur. Styris has refused to accept Thakur as an all-rounder. This statement of Styris has come when Thakur has won his teams many times with his bat. In IPL-2023 also, he scored a half-century in 20 balls. Thakur has also played some important innings for India.
Thakur is generally seen as an alternative to Hardik Pandya in Tests in the Indian team. But Styris feels that Pandya is much better than Thakur. Explaining the reason for this, Styris has said that Pandya is a proper all-rounder but Thakur is not. Thakur has played a total of 10 matches in IPL-2023 so far and has taken five wickets while scoring 110 runs. Thakur has been selected in Team India for the final of the ICC World Test Championship.
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Have to fight to get into the team
Styris feels that Thakur will have to fight it out with Pandya to cement his place in Team India. While talking to Sports 18, Styris admitted that Thakur has the ability to hit boundaries. He said that Thakur has played some match-winning innings for India in Tests and has talent but the rise of Pandya has caused problems for Thakur.
Styris said that Pandya is a proper all-rounder. He raised the question whether there would be two players of the same type in the team. He said that Thakur is not better than Pandya. He flatly refused to consider Thakur as an all-rounder. The former New Zealand player said that Thakur can play as a backup.
Cherry x Dhool 🫂👕 Just like old times 💛#CSKvKKR #WhistlePodu #yellove @deepak_chahar9 @imshard pic.twitter.com/V6ukokt5LH
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) May 15, 2023
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Pandya is out of the Test team
Pandya was troubled by injuries for almost two years before 2022 and that is why his form was also not going well. He was unable to bowl. Due to this, Team India started searching for Pandya’s alternatives. Venkatesh Iyer, Thakur, Deepak Chahar were being seen as his substitutes but Pandya’s comeback from 2022 IPL put him ahead in Team India’s race.
He is also the captain of the team in T20. Under his captaincy, Gujarat won the IPL last year in the debut season itself. Pandya’s bowling and batting are very dangerous at this time. Although he has not been able to return to the Test team yet, he can be seen in the Test team soon.
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