Australian players were trying to have a conversation with me, I was not replying: Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur announced his arrival in the land of the Kangaroos in Test match cricket in riveting style. The Indian seamer first picked up three wickets with the ball to help India restrict Australia to a score of 369 in the first innings. After that, Shardul Thakur was involved in a stunning rearguard partnership with the willow with debutant Washington Sundar.

The duo of Sundar and Shardul Thakur forged an extremely crucial partnership of 123 runs for the 7th wicket as India ended their first innings with a fighting score of 336. While Sundar scored 62, Thakur top-scored for the Indian side by scoring a defiant 67. In fact, his six off Pat Cummins over square leg has been a massive talking point as well.

Now, Thakur has opened up and said that the ‘A’ tours that he was a part of in 2016 have helped him to get used to the conditions in Australia. Thakur was in Australia in the year 2016 and played some four-day games. The Indian pacer also added that the transition from the India A level to the international arena is not too difficult.

“A-Tours are meant to give experience to your second lineup. It has helped a lot, we were here in 2016 and we played at the Allan Border Field. We played four-day games there, pitch there is different, but at least you are used to Australian conditions, when you take that leap from India A to the senior side, the transition is not that difficult, it is all about how you execute at the senior level,” said the pacer in the press conference.

I have the talent for batting, says Shardul Thakur

Thakur also added that he does practice batting in the nets as well. Thakur opined that there was an opportunity to contribute for the side with the willow, and said that he knew that the team would gain if he stayed out in the middle. He also said that he had not batted with Sundar a lot earlier.

“I have the talent for batting, whenever there are throwdowns taking place in nets, I practice my batting, these are the type of moments for which we practice our batting. An opportunity presented itself in this match, I knew that the team would benefit if I stay at the crease for a long haul. I haven’t batted with Sundar much, I have just batted with him once or twice, once it was in a T20 match and once it was a practice game,” added Thakur.

The Indian pacer concluded by saying that the Aussies tried to have some conversations on the field with him, but he did not respond. Thakur also opined that a lot of ‘normal’ questions were asked out in the middle. He also declared that even if the hosts tried to sledge him, he did not hear any of it.

“Australian players were trying to have a conversation with me, but I was not replying. I just replied once or twice, there were a lot of normal questions, even if they were trying to sledge me, I did not hear it, I just played on,” concluded Thakur.