In the crucial series decider held in Trinidad, Thakur’s remarkable four-wicket haul proved to be the turning point.
He swiftly dismissed key top-order batsmenShai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, and Roston Chase, causing significant damage to the West Indies’ chase right from the start. Towards the end of the innings, he also accounted for the dismissal of Romario Shepherd.Despite consistently delivering outstanding performances, Thakur’s place in the team is often questioned due to his slightly higher economy rate.
However, Chopra counters this argument by asserting that Thakur plays a unique and essential role in the team that goes beyond mere economy figures.
“In the previous match itself, Shardul took three wickets. He gets very limited credit for the way he bowls. I am trying to figure out how he takes so many wickets and why he is expensive, both things going hand-in-hand,” Chopra said.
Among Indian bowlers, Thakur has the most number of wickets in ODIs since the 2019 World Cup.
In the 32 games that he has played, he has taken 48 wickets, two more than Kuldeep Yadav, in the same number of matches.
“If you are taking three wickets, the economy shouldn’t be much to worry about because 300 is going to be there as a target. He doesn’t give more than 6 runs per over, must be 6.1-6.2. The number of balls he bowls, the chances of him getting a wicket are very bright,” explained Chopra.
“We say it’s wicket-taking luck, but if you closely observe Shardul, the reason why he has the wicket-taking luck is because he bowls in those areas and he has a lot of belief. If you ever ask him how good are you? He would answer: “equal to Dennis Lillee!”. That’s the confidence he has, and I love him for that,” he said.