You need To Praise Him A Lot: Aakash Chopra Feels Shardul Thakur Might Have Sealed His Spot As India’s 4th Pacer In World Cup 2023
New Delhi: Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra feels pacer Shardul Thakur might have sealed his spot as the fourth pacer in India’s squad for the upcoming World Cup 2023 in India.
Thakur once again showcased his all-round skills as he registered his figures of 4/37 in 6.3 overs as the Men in Blue defeated the host by 200 runs in the series decider of the three-match ODI series at Trinidad on Tuesday, August 1. The seam-bowling all-rounder picked up eight wickets at a reasonable economy rate of 5.31 in the three ODIs.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aaksh Chopra expressed his opinion that a slot for a seamer’s place in India’s World Cup squad was up for grabs ahead of the West Indies series. He stated that “You need to praise Lord Thakur a lot. Lord Thakur has picked up the most wickets for India in ODIs since the 2019 World Cup. The good thing is that there is a place vacant for the World Cup. The question was who can be the fourth fast bowler after (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammad) Shami and (Mohammed) Siraj.”
“It seems like Lord Thakur has become the answer to that question currently. Umran Malik has fallen behind in that list suddenly, although he might do well in the T20s and we start talking about him, but for now it seems like Lord Thakur’s World Cup looks almost confirmed,” Aakash Chopra said.
“Lord Thakur is not just about wicket-taking luck. There are many important factors that make him so successful with both bat and ball. First is just immense self-belief. He gets hit but definitely picks up wickets. He picks up wickets because he shows the courage to bowl wicket-taking balls,” Chopra said.
“He is a concoction of Dennis Lillee, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev, he has so much confidence – ‘If you give me the ball, it doesn’t matter who is playing in front of me, what sort of partnership has been stitched and what the conditions are, I will deliver and take a wicket,” Former Indian opener said.
India’s mammoth 200-run victory marked their 13th consecutive ODI series win against the Windies. The last time India suffered an ODI series defeat at the hands of the Caribbean team which stretches back to 17 years. The Men in Blue will now square off against West Indies in a five-match T20I series, which will begin on Thrusday.