Shardul Thakur: Kolkata Knight Riders displayed a staggering performance in their second game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Nitish Rana-led side after a disappointing loss against Punjab Kings staged a dominant comeback and registered they’d first win of the season. It was a collective team effort from their end as they gave their home crowd everything to cheer about.
Shardul Thakur sets the stage on fire with his fiery knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens
Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore clashed with each other in the 9th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It was no doubt a Shardul Thakur special on the offer as he made many stands and applaud him for his performance.
He was the chief architect behind KKR’s massive 81-run win over RCB. Not with the ball but Thakur was superior with the bat as he contributed significantly to the team’s total and bailed them out of trouble. Asked to bat first, the home side was struggling at 89/5 and not many backed them to win.
But it was at that moment when Shardul Thakur stood tall for his side. He came out all guns blazing and took the attack to the RCB bowlers. He looked unfazed with the wickets that fell and played his natural aggressive game. The right-hander smashed the fastest fifty by the Indian in the IPL 2023.
Read Also: IPL 2023: Ranking All IPL 10 Teams Based on Their Potential set of All–rounders
Shardul Thakur stitched over a 100-run partnership with Rinku Singh (47) and made sure that he helped his side post a big total on the board despite a bad start. His superlative effort helped KKR post a total of 204 runs on the board.
Shardul ended with a score of 68 runs in 29 balls. He batted with a strike rate of 234.48 and scored 9 fours and 3 sixes in his innings. The pacer then also chipped in with the ball and took 1 wicket.
Shardul Thakur reveals who is his Guru! Gives credit for his innings to his batting idol after his fiery knock against RCB
Shardul Thakur’s fiery knock saw him getting the Man of the Match award. It’s fair to say that he was the main reason behind his win last game. Speaking after that match he talked about his innings and also revealed they Virender Sehwag is his Guru and he has learned hitting shots from him.
“I learnt all those big hitting from Virender Sehwag. He’s our guru. Who can smash fast bowlers like him. I don’t even know where it came from but looking at the scorecard at that time, everyone would have thought we are struggling. But your subconscious mind takes over. You also have to have skills to do that at the higher level, but we also work hard in the nets.”
KKR will now face Gujarat Titans in their next match at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday (9th April)
Visit ICC CRICKET SCHEDULE for more cricketing updates.