Nuevo arrendamiento de la vida para ‘Fortunate’ Shardul Thakur por delante de Ind vs Eng 4th Take a look at Take a look at

Shardul Thakur returned to the Indian team after 2 years for the India vs England series but his comeback hasn’t gone as per plan. The 33-year-old scored 1 & 4 in the first Test and sent down only 16 overs. He was since dropped, with Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar preferred. Now Nitish’s injury has opened up another opportunity for the Mumbai pacer, and he could feature in the IND vs ENG 4th Test in Manchester.

Shardul Thakur set for Manchester return?

Shardul Thakur’s England tour seemed to come to an end when he was dropped ahead of the 2nd Test. While Nitish Reddy did not set the world alight, India had found a winning combination. The defeat at Lord’s was unlikely to change that with a week to recuperate from that heartbreak.

But a week is a long time in cricket. Nitish Reddy injured his knee and was ruled out of the rest of the India vs England series. Arshdeep Singh is unavailable for the IND vs ENG 4th Test due to a hand injury. Akash Deep’s participation will be a late call with a groin injury. India added Anshul Kamboj to the squad, while Prasidh Krishna is another option.

That has opened the door for Shardul to be in contention. India do not have a like for like replacement for Nitish Reddy. Adding a pure batter will leave them with a lopsided attack of only 3 pacers, with Jadeja and Sundar set to continue. Anshul Kamboj scored a half-century for India A against the Lions, but is not considered in the all-rounder category yet.

Given Gautam Gambhir’s penchant for all rounders, Thakur could slot in at No.8, with Sundar moving a spot higher in the line up. Reddy bowled 28 overs across 2 Tests, and scored just 45 in 4 innings. Thakur, thus could prove to be an able option, and provide India with the same balance as they had in the last couple of Tests.

The case against Shardul Thakur

India are trailing 2-1 in the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy. Now is not the time for defensive tactics and fail-safe methods. India need to trust their batting to deliver and be aggressive with ball in hand. Gambhir and Gill put their faith in a veteran Karun Nair over Sai Sudharsan and the decision is yet to pay dividends. Doing the same in the case of Thakur and Kamboj would be repeating the same mistakes that has seen India lose 8 of their last 11 Tests.