'He got angry when he didn't get enough batting in nets' - Imran Tahir recalls experience with Shardul Thakur at CSK

Shardul Thakur has emerged as a hot property in the cricket world lately. While the 30-year-old is primarily a fast bowler, his batting blitzes have also helped India on numerous occasions. In fact, the right-handed batter has recorded Test half-centuries in challenging conditions of England and Australia. Many even see him as a genuine all-rounder in the purest format of the game.

The swashbuckler also played a crucial 28-run knock in the ongoing Johannesburg Test. His efforts bailed Team India out of trouble and helped them set a decent fourth-innings target for the hosts. Speaking of Shardul’s love for batting, Imran Tahir revealed that the pacer used to take his batting very seriously and even got angry when not given enough time at the nets.

Shardul Thakur takes a lot of pride in his batting: Imran Tahir

For the unversed, Thakur and Tahir shared dressing room for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Speaking on Star Sports, Imran Tahir recalled about the time he spent with Shardul Thakur during his stint with CSK.

“He (Shardul Thakur) takes a lot of pride in his batting. He takes his batting very seriously. I play with him for Chennai and he does a lot of batting practice. On one or two occasions, he got angry when he didn’t get enough batting in the nets,” recalled the leg-spinner. The former South African bowler also highlighted the significance of Thakur’s batting blitzes in the context of the Johannesburg Test.

“It shows that he is very keen regarding his batting. He made very vital runs in yesterday’s game. They are very important runs. The way this match will progress, you will see the value of those runs and I believe the positive way in which he played, it is his natural game and he got the reward for that as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was also a part of the same panel. Opining on Shardul’s contribution with the bat, he said: “Excellent contribution and because of that only Shardul Thakur is in the playing XI. If you bat at No.8, you will want to perform with both bat and ball. The shots he played were like a proper batter.”