Victory against Mumbai is something special: Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur who plays for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy ironically turned out to be the villain for the franchise from Mumbai in the Qualifier 1 of IPL 10 on Tuesday (May 16). In what was a third Maharashtrian derby of the season, Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) thrashed the men in blue by 20 yet again to book their place for the grand finale.

Firsthand, their former skipper MS Dhoni did the damage by playing a cameo of 40 from 26 balls and then a brilliant performance from the bowling attack made sure that Mumbai Indians (MI) get no chance whatsoever to come back in the game. Thakur along with his fellow pacer Jaydev Unadkat and spinner Washington Sundar dismantled the strong batting line-up of the mighty MI.

With his sharp reflexes, Thakur provided RPS with its first breakthrough in the form of Lendl Simmons who was backing up too far at the non-striker’s end only to get run out. This wicket was extremely crucial since we all know how dangerous Simmons can be once he gets his eye in. This was followed by some brilliant display of bowling from the young spinner Washington Sundar who picked three for 16 dismantling Mumbai’s middle order. The pacer then returned to get the better of Krunal Pandya, Parthiv Patel and Mitchell McClenaghan to seal the deal for Pune.

Talking about the victory, Thakur mentioned about how prolonged hard work and effective team planning played a prominent role in their success. “It feels great. It is our first final for Rising Pune Supergiant. We have put in a lot of hard work, winning nine games of 14 weren’t easy and I feel winning this one against Mumbai Indians in Mumbai was something special,” Thakur said to iplt20.com.

Strategy to defend the total:

When asked about what was their strategy to defend a total of 162 against a solid batting line-up, Thakur said that they were specific in their plans. “You also saw how the wicket was playing. It was a bit difficult in the powerplay. But after the powerplay, (when) the field was spread (the restrictions were removed) it was a bit easier. Slower ones were working. I must say you got wickets on that (delivery) and me too,” he said.

While Thakur played a significant role in getting RPS through for the third time against MI, his fellow pacer, Unadkat has also played an important role in the success of the franchise. Having picked 22 wickets in the tournament so far Unadakat is only behind the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the race for the purple cap. However, he feels that winning the trophy counts far more than just winning the purple cap. “If I get that (purple cap), I would be the happiest person. But so far, the eye is on the (IPL) trophy. It has been brilliant to be part of this setup and to be playing the final would be great as well,” Unadkat said.

Taking into account their recent performance and a strong All-round unit Pune can well go out and clinch their first IPL title on May 21 in Hyderabad.