Shardul Thakur has spoken out about feeling underused by the Indian team management during last year’s tour of England, where the five-match Test series ended 2-2. Shardul Thakur featured in just two of the five games, picking up two wickets and scoring 46 runs in total.
The 34-year-old hasn’t been picked for India since that tour but he feels his form heading into the series, built on a strong 2024-25 domestic season, should have earned him a bigger role. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Shardul Thakur said it was tough to explain why he didn’t get more chances, especially given how well he had performed domestically that season and suggested he could have made a real impact if given more games.
According to Shardul Thakur, the bigger issue was how little he bowled, just 27 overs across his two Test appearances. He also addressed his batting, admitting he threw his wicket away with a poor shot during the Leeds Test, but pointed to his knock in the drawn fourth Test at Manchester as proof he made up for it. Batting at number seven in that match, he scored 41 runs off 88 deliveries.
Shardul Thakur explained that in England, he never really got the bowling opportunities he needed and while he owned up to his mistake in Leeds, he felt his Manchester innings showed his true value to the side. He described the conditions in Manchester as tough for batting – overcast skies, a swinging ball and awkward bounce, yet he held firm long enough for India to post a strong first-innings total. Once the pitch flattened out, the team was able to secure a draw. He argued that if he hadn’t batted the way he did when the second new ball came into play, the result might have gone differently, stressing that his role in that Test shouldn’t be overlooked.
Shardul Thakur also suggested that skipper Shubman Gill’s team made some questionable decisions in how they used him, not just bowling him too little but bringing him on at the wrong moments in an innings. He called it a case of poor game-reading and miscalculated timing.
When asked if he’d ever raised these concerns directly with Shubman Gill or head coach Gautam Gambhir, Shardul Thakur said that kind of conversation rarely happens mid-match. He explained that during a game, the focus stays entirely on performing whenever called upon and results don’t always go your way even when you try your best.
He then revisited the first Test in Leeds which India lost by five wickets, recalling how he had removed openers Ben Duckett, who was dismissed for a duck, and Harry Brook, out for just two runs, in quick succession, only to be taken out of the bowling attack soon after. Shardul Thakur felt that with a longer spell, he might have picked up another wicket and set up a platform for the other bowlers to close out the match, potentially changing the entire outcome of the game.
He was quick to add that hindsight comments like his would not change what already happened and reiterated that players rarely get into detailed discussions with captains about tactics, instead, they simply carry out whatever role they’re assigned during the game.
Was Shardul Thakur not used properly in England tour last year? What do you think?
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