Shardul Narendra Thakur (born 16 October 1991) is an Indian international
cricketer who plays for
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
in domestic cricket and has previously appeared for several
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...
teams. He is an allrounder who bats right-handed and bowls right arm
medium pace. He was a part of the Indian squad which won the
2018 Asia Cup and the
2023 Asia Cup.
Domestic career
Thakur was initially criticized for his lack of height for a fast bowler (he is 5 ft 9 in) and for being overweight for some time (83 kg) but he ultimately became a part of Mumbai domestic team.
In November 2012, he made his first-class debut for
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
against
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
at
Jaipur
Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...
in the
2012–13 Ranji Trophy. He did not have a good start to his career as he took four wickets at a bowling average of 82.0 from his first four games. In
2013–14 Ranji season, he took 27 wickets at 26.25 from six games, with one five-wicket haul. In the
2014-15 Ranji season, he took 48 wickets at 20.81 from ten games with five five-wicket hauls.
He made his
List A
List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...
debut on 27 February 2014, for Mumbai in the
2013–14 Vijay Hazare Trophy.
In
2015-16 Ranji Trophy final, he took eight wickets against
Saurashtra and led
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
to win its 41st
Ranji Trophy title.
International career
He was named in
India's 16-man squad for
India's Test tour of West Indies in 2016, but he did not play. In August 2017, he was named in India's limited-overs squad for the series
against Sri Lanka.
He made his
One Day International
One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
(ODI) debut on 31 August 2017 against Sri Lanka.
He became the second Indian cricketer to wear the number 10 jersey after
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who List of India national cricket captains#Men's cricket, captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketer ...
, which raised various controversial comments in social media. Later, he changed his jersey number to 54 due to controversy. On 29 November 2017,
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...
(BCCI) retired Tendulkar's No. 10 jersey.
He made his
Twenty20 International
Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...
(T20I) debut for India
against South Africa on 21 February 2018.
In March 2018, he was selected to play in the
2018 Nidahas Trophy. In a match against Sri Lanka he took a career best 4-27 to bring the game back to India's favour, winning the Man Of the Match award. He finished with 6 wickets from 5 matches at an average of 29.33.
In May 2018, he was named in India's
Test squad for the one-off Test
against Afghanistan in June 2018, but did not play.
In October 2018, he made his Test debut against the
West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
, making him the 294th player to represent
Team India in Tests. His debut ended after bowling just 10 deliveries due to suffering from a groin strain in his right leg.
In the historic Gabba Test vs Australia, Shardul made 67 in the first innings and took a total of 7 wickets in that match.
Thakur was included in the India squad for the
2021 England tour. He was employed as an extra seam bowler in the First Test at
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
. An injury ruled him out of the next two Tests before he returned for the Fourth Test at
the Oval. He made 57 in 36 balls in India's first innings, reaching his half-century in 31 balls, the fastest in Tests played in England. In the second innings, he scored 60 in 72 balls to help India post 466. He took three crucial wickets with the ball, dismissing
Ollie Pope for 81 in the first innings, and
Rory Burns and
Joe Root in the second, and was instrumental in securing his team's victory. Thakur finished the series with 117 runs at 39 with the bat, while claiming seven wickets at 22 with the ball. ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' wrote, "The journeyman bowler who bats transformed himself into Kapil Dev, repeatedly delivering a considered counter-attack with bat and ball that permitted not a shred of self-doubt. Though his bowling might be specifically suited to English conditions, he made the absolute most of his talents."
In September 2021, Thakur was named as one of three reserve players in India's squad for the
T20 World Cup to be held in October. On 13 October, Thakur replaced
Axar Patel in India's main squad for the tournament. He was included in the playing eleven for two games of the tournament.
In the second Test match
against South Africa at the
Wanderers Stadium in January 2022, Shardul Thakur registered his first
five-wicket haul
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter.
Takin ...
in Test matches, and also registered the best bowling figures for an Indian bowler against South Africa. His figures were 7/61, which helped India bowl out South Africa for 229. He also provided a quickfire cameo of 28 runs to help increase India's lead in the second innings, however India lost the match. Thakur's match figures were 8/108.
In January 2023, Thakur scored a total of 6 wickets in the ODI series vs NZ. Also he became Player of the match in the 3rd ODI by scoring 25 runs with bat and 3 wickets.
IPL career
Thakur was signed by
Kings XI Punjab at the
2014 IPL player auction ahead of the 2015 season of
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...
and made his debut against
Delhi Daredevils, taking one wicket in his four overs. In March 2017, he was acquired by
Rising Pune Supergiants for the
tenth season of the IPL and in January 2018, was bought by
Chennai Super Kings ahead of the next season.
In 2019 Chennai reached the
IPL final; Thakur took two wickets but was out off the final ball of the match with two runs required for victory. In 2021, he was the leading wicket-taker for Chennai with 21 wickets during the season.
In February 2022, he was bought by
Delhi Capitals in the
auction
An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
for the
2022 Indian Premier League tournament. After playing in 14 matches during the season, in November 2022 he was traded to the
Kolkata Knight Riders in exchange for
Aman Khan ahead of the auctions for the 2023 season of IPL securing a staggering deal of ₹10.75 crore (US$1.3 million).
He was unclaimed in the 2025 IPL mega auction, and agreed to join English county side
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
for the 2025 County Championship. However, on 23 March 2025, Thakur was announced as the replacement for the injured
Mohsin Khan by the
Lucknow Super Giants for IPL 2025. He was signed for a remuneration of INR 2 crore.
Personal life
In November 2021, Thakur got engaged to Mittali Parulkar. The pair got married on February 27, 2023.
References
External links
*
Twitter profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakur, Shardul
Living people
1991 births
Indian cricketers
India Test cricketers
India One Day International cricketers
India Twenty20 International cricketers
21st-century Indian sportsmen
Mumbai cricketers
West Zone cricketers
Punjab Kings cricketers
Rising Pune Supergiant cricketers
Chennai Super Kings cricketers
Delhi Capitals cricketers
Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers
People from Palghar district
People from Palghar
India Blue cricketers
Cricketers from Mumbai
Lucknow Super Giants cricketers