‘Thakur will be the No. 1’ - Irfan Pathan hails Shardul Thakur, believes he will be in India’s scheme of things for ODI World Cup

In India’s third ODI against New Zealand at Indore, pacer Shardul Thakur, lived up to the expectations, picking up three crucial wickets. On a ground that was tailor-made for the batters to dominate, Thakur picked up back-to-back wickets of Daryl Mitchell, and skipper, Tom Latham, to change the complexation of the game.

With that, former India international, Irfan Pathan, believes that the 31-year-old will definitely be in India’s scheme of things during the upcoming ODI World Cup. Hailing him, the former cricketer also mentioned that the squad needs players like him who never gives up.

“If you ask Shardul, he will be the No. 1. He bowled really well. He is a trier; he keeps trying. When you see him, you will always feel that he doesn't have that kind of swing, he doesn't have that kind of pace which is 140-plus consistently, but he will always be in your face. and he wants to keep taking wickets," said Pathan.

"You want guys like him in the team as well. With him, especially when you are talking about the World Cup, you need at least six-seven options in your hand as far as the team combination is concerned,” Shardul said during an interaction on the Star Sports show 'Match Point'," the former swing sensation concluded.

I am not as certain about Shardul Thakur: Sanjay Manjrekar

Even though Irfan Pathan considers Shardul Thakur one of the favourites to feature in India’s world cup squad, Sanjay Manjrekar isn’t sure if that’s the right move. He believes that Hardik Pandya can play a similar kind of role and thus, Thakur might not get the chance. However, Manjrekar stated that there’s still a lot of time left between now and the World Cup and thus, anything can happen in between.

“I am not as certain about Shardul Thakur. There is a lot of time between now and the World Cup, and there are a few other contenders. There is Hardik Pandya also, who has a similar kind of role - batting and bowling. So, I agree Shardul Thakur will be in the plans, but I don't know whether he will make it in the squad finally,” the 57-year-old said.

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store