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| Full name | Shardul Narendra Thakur | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1991-10-16)16 October 1991 (age 33) Palghar,Maharashtra, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Lord" Shardul | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armmedium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 294) | 12 October 2018 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 26 December 2023 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 218) | 31 August 2017 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 19 October 2023 v Bangladesh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 54 (formerly 10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I debut (cap 73) | 21 February 2018 v South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 20 February 2022 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T20I shirt no. | 54 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–present | Mumbai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Kings XI Punjab | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Rising Pune Supergiants(squad no. 10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021, 2024 | Chennai Super Kings(squad no. 54) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Delhi Capitals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Kolkata Knight Riders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025-present | Lucknow Super Giants | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:ESPNcricinfo,9 March 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shardul Narendra Thakur (born 16 October 1991) is an Indian internationalcricketer who plays forMumbai in domestic cricket and has previously appeared for severalIndian Premier League teams. He is an allrounder who bats right-handed and bowls right armmedium pace.[2] He was a part of the Indian squad which won the2018 Asia Cup and the2023 Asia Cup.
Thakur was initially criticized for his lack of height for a fast bowler (he is 5 ft 9 in) and for being overweight for some time (83 kg) but he ultimately became a part of Mumbai domestic team.[3]
In November 2012, he made his first-class debut forMumbai againstRajasthan atJaipur in the2012–13 Ranji Trophy.[4] He did not have a good start to his career as he took four wickets at a bowling average of 82.0 from his first four games. In2013–14 Ranji season, he took 27 wickets at 26.25 from six games, with one five-wicket haul. In the2014-15 Ranji season, he took 48 wickets at 20.81 from ten games with five five-wicket hauls.[5]He made hisList A debut on 27 February 2014, for Mumbai in the2013–14 Vijay Hazare Trophy.[6]
In2015-16 Ranji Trophy final, he took eight wickets againstSaurashtra and ledMumbai to win its 41stRanji Trophy title.[7]
He was named inIndia's 16-man squad forIndia's Test tour of West Indies in 2016, but he did not play.[8] In August 2017, he was named in India's limited-overs squad for the seriesagainst Sri Lanka.[9] He made hisOne Day International (ODI) debut on 31 August 2017 against Sri Lanka.[10]
He became the second Indian cricketer to wear the number 10 jersey afterSachin Tendulkar, which raised various controversial comments in social media. Later, he changed his jersey number to 54 due to controversy. On 29 November 2017,Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) retired Tendulkar's No. 10 jersey.[11]
He made hisTwenty20 International (T20I) debut for Indiaagainst South Africa on 21 February 2018.[12]
In March 2018, he was selected to play in the2018 Nidahas Trophy.[13] In a match against Sri Lanka he took a career best 4-27[14] to bring the game back to India's favour, winning the Man Of the Match award. He finished with 6 wickets from 5 matches at an average of 29.33.[15]
In May 2018, he was named in India'sTest squad for the one-off Testagainst Afghanistan in June 2018, but did not play.[16]
In October 2018, he made his Test debut against theWest Indies, making him the 294th player to representTeam India in Tests.[17] His debut ended after bowling just 10 deliveries due to suffering from a groin strain in his right leg.[18]In the historic Gabba Test vs Australia, Shardul made 67 in the first innings and took a total of 7 wickets in that match.Thakur was included in the India squad for the2021 England tour.[19] He was employed as an extra seam bowler in the First Test atNottingham.[20] An injury ruled him out of the next two Tests before he returned for the Fourth Test atthe Oval.[21] He made 57 in 36 balls in India's first innings, reaching his half-century in 31 balls, the fastest in Tests played in England.[22] In the second innings, he scored 60 in 72 balls to help India post 466. He took three crucial wickets with the ball, dismissingOllie Pope for 81 in the first innings, andRory Burns andJoe Root in the second, and was instrumental in securing his team's victory. Thakur finished the series with 117 runs at 39 with the bat, while claiming seven wickets at 22 with the ball.The Guardian wrote, "The journeyman bowler who bats transformed himself into Kapil Dev, repeatedly delivering a considered counter-attack with bat and ball that permitted not a shred of self-doubt. Though his bowling might be specifically suited to English conditions, he made the absolute most of his talents."[23]
In September 2021, Thakur was named as one of three reserve players in India's squad for theT20 World Cup to be held in October.[24] On 13 October, Thakur replacedAxar Patel in India's main squad for the tournament.[25] He was included in the playing eleven for two games of the tournament.[26][27]
In the second Test matchagainst South Africa at theWanderers Stadium in January 2022, Shardul Thakur registered his firstfive-wicket haul in Test matches, and also registered the best bowling figures for an Indian bowler against South Africa.[28] His figures were 7/61, which helped India bowl out South Africa for 229. He also provided a quickfire cameo of 28 runs to help increase India's lead in the second innings, however India lost the match. Thakur's match figures were 8/108.[29]
In January 2023, Thakur scored a total of 6 wickets in the ODI series vs NZ. Also he became Player of the match in the 3rd ODI by scoring 25 runs with bat and 3 wickets.[30]
Thakur was signed byKings XI Punjab at the2014 IPL player auction ahead of the 2015 season ofIndian Premier League and made his debut againstDelhi Daredevils, taking one wicket in his four overs. In March 2017, he was acquired byRising Pune Supergiants for thetenth season of the IPL[31] and in January 2018, was bought byChennai Super Kings ahead of the next season.
In 2019 Chennai reached theIPL final; Thakur took two wickets but was out off the final ball of the match with two runs required for victory.[32] In 2021, he was the leading wicket-taker for Chennai with 21 wickets during the season.[33]
In February 2022, he was bought byDelhi Capitals in theauction for the2022 Indian Premier League tournament.[34] After playing in 14 matches during the season, in November 2022 he was traded to theKolkata Knight Riders in exchange forAman Khan ahead of the auctions for the 2023 season of IPL[35] securing a staggering deal of ₹10.75 crore (US$1.3 million).[36]
He was unclaimed in the 2025 IPL mega auction, and agreed to join English county sideEssex for the 2025 County Championship. However, on 23 March 2025, Thakur was announced as the replacement for the injuredMohsin Khan by theLucknow Super Giants.[37]
In November 2021, Thakur got engaged to Mittali Parulkar.[38] The pair got married on February 27, 2023.[39][40]
He weighed 83 kg, was only 5'9" tall and even Sachin Tendulkar had told him that he needed to lose some weight if he was serious about cricket.
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