26 September,2021 02:51 PM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
CSK’s Shardul Thakur. Pic/BCCI; IPL
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowling consultant Eric Simons has hailed all-rounder Shardul Thakur as a special talent, who shifted the momentum in favour of his team when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had an upper hand in the first 10 overs on Friday.
Thakur sent back AB de Villiers (12) and Devdutt Padikkal (70) off successive deliveries, which turned the tide and helped the former champions beat RCB by six wickets. After electing to bowl first, the MS Dhoni-led CSK struggled in the beginning as openers Virat Kohli (53, 6x4, 1x6) and Padikkal (5x4, 3x6) put on a 111 in 13.2 overs. However, pacer Thakur's two crucial wickets in the 17th over and Dwayne Bravo's 3-24 helped CSK restrict RCB to 156-6. In reply, CSK's Ruturaj Gaikwad (38), Faf du Plessis (31), Ambati Rayudu (32) and Moeen Ali (23) helped the team win with 11 balls to spare.
"We didn't get it quite right in the first half. But in the second half, he [Thakur], in many ways, shifted the momentum. He bowled in the right areas and was clever about the way he went about his bowling. He used his ability to read the pitch and the batsmen in the situation," Simons said during a virtual post-match press conference on Friday.
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Simons, 59, a former South African fast bowler, who claimed 33 wickets in 23 ODIs, called Thakur a "special cricketer."
"He is somebody that you can throw the ball to under any circumstances. He wants to bowl and bat under any circumstances. He has incredible self-belief and that is what makes him such a special cricketer," Simons added.
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