With less than a month to go for the much-awaited World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton, India are still wondering that won't it be good to have a fast-bowling all-rounder in the playing XI. The role was mostly played by Hardik Pandya in the recent past.
However, his back injury has left him be careful before bowling again; leaving him out of the Test setup. Shardul Thakur, who picked seven wickets and scored match-saving fifty in the historic Brisbane Test in January, could be that missing piece of puzzle in the playing XI. At least that's what his childhood coach Dinesh Lad feels.
“As a coach, I would want Shardul to be given preference in the WTC final based on how he has been performing of late. He can swing both the ball and bat, and it will be a plus point for India to let Shardul fill that all-rounder’s role. But again, everything depends on the team management and coaches,” Lad told Sportskeeda.
“He will definitely get preference in the long run because India are currently lacking in all-rounders. Hardik Pandya was playing as an all-rounder but now he is not able to bowl because of injury. Teams need fast-bowling all-rounders and there is only Shardul Thakur in the queue. But in order to perform well, he needs to get a long run of matches,” Lad explained.
While Shardul is yet to play international cricket in England, Lad feels that 10-12 days of practice in England before the match is the tonic the 29-year-old all-rounder needs.
“They have some 10-12 days window before the first match, so he will get ample time to practice and get used to the conditions. And he recently played against England, so I don’t think he will have any problem. I have just one funda, I have always told him to make the batsman play without thinking about movement, because the batter will make a mistake but in order to make that happen, he needs to be enticed to play.
“He has the ability and hence reached that level, so he just needs to hold a particular line and length to get wickets. He has also learnt to handle pressure, like how we saw him bat in pressure situation and help India win in Brisbane,” he further added.
