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[Saba Sports News] In the ongoing ODI series against Australia, Team India has shown good form with their batsmen performing well. However, concerns have arisen about their middle-order firepower.
Shardul Thakur, who had displayed good form during the recent Asia Cup 2023, failed to make an impact in the first ODI, remaining wicketless and expensive in his bowling. In the second ODI, India set a massive target of 399 runs, but rain interrupted play, and Australia faced a challenging target of 317 runs in 33 overs.
Prasidh Krishna took advantage and picked up two quick wickets, putting Australia at 9/2. In this dominant position, Team India needed their bowlers to maintain pressure, but Shardul Thakur failed to do so. This led Mark Waugh to criticize him as a ‘bits and pieces’ cricketer.
Notably, Sanjay Manjrekar had previously used a similar term for Ravindra Jadeja in 2019.
Shardul Thakur is part of India’s squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, but his impact has been more pronounced in red-ball cricket, where he played pivotal roles in series wins against Australia and England in Test matches.