Shardul Thakur finds gold after hard dig in domestic cricket

Sachin Tendulkar Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan were still part of the Mumbai squad when pace bowler Shardul Thakur made his debut in Ranji Trophy firstclass cricket in Jaipur over eight years agoThe three India international stars did not travel for the games against Rajasthan to Jaipur that season after having played Mumbais first match at the Wankhede Stadium against RailwaysTendulkar and Zaheer had to join the India squad that was to play England in the home Test seriesThakur couldnt grab the chance he got with both hands In the Jaipur game captained by his schoolmate and now India Test opener Rohit Sharma he picked up just one wicket In the next he couldnt pick up any and was subsequently droppedMumbai brought him back later in the season for the semifinals and the threewicket haul against a weak Services side was his only further successMumbai however kept faith in him for the next season and he delivered returning as the secondhighest wickettaker for his team with 27 scalps He has never looked back since chipping in with batting performances as wellAfter eight years of toil at the firstclass level which also saw a failed Test appearance in October 2018 against the West Indies when he limped off after bowling just 10 deliveries Thakur has finally made it bigOn Monday he became the first player to pick up seven or more wickets and score a fifty against Australia in Australia after Dale Steyn at Melbourne in 2008 A 67 in the first innings and a matchhaul of 7155There was a time few years back when he had become quite bulky and started bowling wayward I told him to do running on the sand I told him you have a beach near your place Why dont you run there He began working on his fitness after that There was also a time when he was disappointed at not being given a chance for Kings XI Punjab in IPL But I told him to stay calm and look at the positive side You are getting to practice at the top level Dinesh Lad who coached him and Rohit Sharma at their Mumbai school told IANSLad has been in touch with his ward and told him to go for a fivewicket haul in the second innings Thakur finished with four but his overall performance is good enough to make him a contender for man of the match award if the game ends in a draw or an India winWhat you are seeing is the experience gained through domestic grind Domestic cricket helps players to develop temperament Patience is needed and that is what you saw said LadWhile his bowling has been exemplary the shots he has played while batting have been as good as any top batsman has played In fact in many cases they have been betterThakur played a hook to get off the mark on Sunday He then hit a perfect cover driveHe plays straight And that has come through practice in early years at the cemented wicket we have at school Even before this seasons IPL he had 23 sessions at the school At international level most of the wickets have true and certain bounce and that is where the cemented surface has helped added LadThakur on Monday picked up the wickets of Marcus Harris Cameron Green Tim Paine and Nathan LyonHe was in line for a fifer but narrowly missed itThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever