It has been a forgettable year for Shardul Thakur. Once an automatic pick in the playing XI of the Indian team, the all-rounder has gone down in the pecking order in the last few months due to a combination of injuries and poor form. Thakur, much to everyone's surprise, went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction as well and is now struggling in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy too.
Playing for Mumbai against Kerala today at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, the 33-year-old registered an embarrassing record of conceding the most runs in an innings in a four-over spell in the history of the domestic T20 tournament in India. Thakur was taken apart for 69 runs in his four, the joint-most ever by a bowler in SMAT history.
Interestingly, Ramesh Rahul of Arunachal Pradesh had also conceded 69 runs only four days ago in Mumbai against Haryana breaking the 14-year-old record. Within four days, Shardul has equalled his worst figures record which sums up the kind of year he has endured so far. He started the innings well casting Sanju Samson in the very first over but things went wrong since then for Mumbai as they conceded 234 runs in 20 overs with Salman Nizar smashing an unbeaten 99 off 49 deliveries.
Kerala batters smashed Shardul Thakur for five fours and six sixes overall in his spell as his economy at the end of the innings read 17.25. His day didn't get any better as the Mumbai all-rounder could only muster three runs in the steep chase before getting out to Nidheesh MD. Ajinkya Rahane fought a lone battle for Mumbai scoring 68 runs off just 35 balls with five fours and four sixes as they eventually fell short by 43 runs.
This T20 season is not going to plan for Shardul as he has picked only four wickets in three matches conceding 162 runs in just 12 overs so far at an economy of 13.5. In the meantime, Mumbai experienced their first loss of the tournament having won the two matches earlier comfortably. They are at the third position in the group E points table with 8 points.
