‘Lord in every format’ – Twitterverse react as Shardul Thakur replaces Axar Patel in India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad

Shardul Thakur has been awarded a place in India’s 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. The right-arm pacer, who was initially named among the reserves, has been in splendid form for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Having scalped 13 wickets in 8 games in the UAE leg, the right-arm pacer was instrumental in taking CSK to the final.

Subsequently, he replaced spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel in the first 15. Notably, Axar now joins Deepak Chahar and Shreyas Iyer in the reserve list. With Hardik Pandya not bowling a single over in IPL 2021, many prominent members of cricket fraternity opined Shardul should be in the squad. After all, he has also done well with the bat lately.

During the Test series against England this year, Shardul scored twin half-centuries in the fourth Test at the Kennington Oval in London. With Thakur also shining with the ball in IPL 2021, his inclusion in the 15-man squad didn’t surprise many. With the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the ranks, India’s pace-bowling attack was already formidable.

Shardul Thakur- bowler or all-rounder?

Hence, it’s pretty evident that Shardul has been added to provide some all-round options. With Axar Patel going into the reserve-player list, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya are the only two all-rounders in the 15-man squad. With Hardik struggling with fitness issues, it would be interesting to see if the team management considers picking him as a pure batter.

In another option, Shardul can be slotted at the number seven position with Jadeja batting at six. At least, this is the popular opinion. Meanwhile, the Men in Blue will kick-start its T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai. India’s combination in that game would pretty clear why Shardul came into the picture.

Meanwhile, India has done well in the shortest international format lately and are touted as one of the favorites to get the glory. With stalwarts like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah in ranks, the side is studded with match-winners. However, they need to come together as a unit to get the glory.

Meanwhile, let’s look at how Twitterati reacted to Shardul Thakur’s inclusion in India’s T20 World Cup squad:-