The steel and skill of Shardul Thakur
The pacer has his flaws but does bring value to the Indian Test set-up.
In the aftermath of India’s historic breach of the fortress of Gabba, I remember tweeting, did anyone feel reminded of young Peter Siddle watching Shardul Thakur bowl in the Test match? It wasn’t comparing him to Siddle but I felt the energy and spirit with which Thakur ran in each ball, was quite similar to the way the former Aussie paceman once operated.
Thakur’s performance in Brisbane, effectively his Test debut after the injury mishap in Hyderabad, was a perfect summation of all he has to offer to India as a cricketer. Thakur’s about his heart, the steel, a stomach for a fight more than skill, accuracy and consistency. It isn’t to suggest the bowler is short of ability and is all about the character, but the more I saw Thakur bowl in the Test, the more I admired his confidence, courage and the temperament. He forced us to overlook the lack of control and the inconsistency, probably because he ultimately managed to put the numbers on the board and proved impactful in India’s cause. But sometimes you’re made to focus on the zeal of a person, not his productivity.
It isn’t difficult to understand why Virat Kohli likes Shardul Thakur. The Indian captain has a lot of time for people who wear their heart on the sleeves. Kohli admires players in whom he can see himself, those willing to put themselves in the firing line, test their mettle in the toughest battles and see whether they can come out triumphant. Kohli is moved by the heart, loves the toughness of the character. As long as you’re ready to bite the bullet and show the bravery, the result doesn’t matter for Kohli. The word “intent” isn’t a throwaway term for him, he genuinely means it. Thakur too has a lot of intent and aggression about him. The champion mentality.
Yet, while impressed by those qualities, I felt compelled to explore the skill part. It’s an interesting case study, why Thakur boasts of such impressive first-class numbers and an equally poor white-ball record despite being found wanting on the ‘control’ front in either formats. In Thakur’s 12 ODIs and 17 T20Is for India, he’s been among the most expansive bowlers, giving away 6.80 and 8.94 runs per over, respectively. Even in his overall List A and T20 career, including matches in the IPL, Thakur’s economy rates have been on the higher side: 5.71 in 50-overs cricket and 8.44 in the shorter version. However, with the red-ball in hand, the same quick has now taken 213 wickets at a respectable average of 28.34 while conceding 3.17 runs per over. So is Thakur doing something different to overcome his faults in first-class cricket?
As a fast-bowler, Thakur gives you the impression of being an enforcer of the attack, someone who would pull his socks anytime he’s required and hit the deck hard for his team, ball after ball, spell after spell. It’s an habit acquired playing on Indian tracks which, though highly improved in terms of help for pacemen in the Ranji Trophy since the start of the previous decade, are still Indian tracks at heart. Encouragement from surfaces has led to a proliferation of fast-bowlers in Indian cricket. But in general, teams still balance their attack with two spinners and two quicks, complimented with an all-rounder. Beyond the new-ball, those quicks are used only at ‘right times' and in small bursts. In those bursts, Thakur is habitual of hustling through the crease and bowling aggressive lengths, looking for wickets, without having the control to bowl according to a plan.
A deeper study of his first-class record vindicates this. As per the data recorded by ESPNcricinfo, only 38 of Thakur’s first-class dismissals have been bowleds, while the LBWs limited to a shockingly low 20. As many as 155 of his wickets have come through catches, 79 by the wicketkeeper, 76 by others. The out-swing is Thakur’s biggest weapon, so the usual mode of operation perhaps explain why the bowleds and the LBWs would be low, especially against the right-handers. But the fact that they are so low tells us that Thakur doesn’t bowl the conventional lines and lengths as regularly as most other quicks do. The line isn’t often directed at the stumps, while the length is shorter or fuller than norm.
The variability and unpredictability of lengths make Thakur’s case slightly similar to that of Siraj. But Siraj, unlike Thakur, generally bowls the stump line. Our man, though, hits awkward spots and gets batsmen out without any pattern to his dismissals over a spell. Using his curved seam, Thakur gets more zip and movement hitting those spots in first-class and Test match cricket with the red-ball than he does with the white Kookaburra on flat pitches used in one-dayers. That thus explains the gap in his numbers from one version of the sport to the other.
There’s a reason why batsmen tend to get out edging to the wicketkeeper while going for a pull against Thakur. The Mumbaikar isn’t an express fast-bowler by any means, but has a skiddy nature and gets the ball through quicker than the batsman expects. A slight deviation to go with it results in the edge as opposed to hitting the sweet spot on the bat, which the batsman had intended.
Of course, Thakur’s ways don’t and won’t always work. He can blow hot and cold. Really frustrate you on off-days. 23 of Thakur’s 111 first-class innings have seen him pick 4 or more wickets, which is impressive. But that also means the rest of his 100 or so wickets have come from 88 innings.
Yet, the value of Thakur’s good days and method of operation accentuates when the overall bowling quality around him is of high quality. It did at Brisbane too, where he had Siraj and Sundar operating at the other end. And that wasn’t even India’s first-choice bowling attack. Thakur won’t get to play when more robust pacers like Bumrah, Ishant & co are around. However, there’s certainly some value he brings to the set-up and if used judiciously, can prove a handful in Test match environment.
