There has always been a dearth of all-rounders in India since time immemorial. Especially, the pace bowling all-rounders.
Presently, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur are the only 2 noteworthy pace bowling all-rounders who have made an impact with their performances.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have traded in Shardul Thakur from Delhi Capitals (DC) and will be paying a whopping sum of Rs. 10.75 crores to the all-rounder.
This was the same sum with which DC had bought the services of Shardul Thakur in IPL 2022.
As Pat Cummins has opted out of IPL 2023, Shardul Thakur naturally becomes an important asset for the KKR franchise.
In this article, we take a look at 3 reasons why Shardul Thakur might have a stellar season for KKR in IPL 2023:
1. The Eden Gardens pitch traditionally favours pacers
The historic Eden Gardens has always favoured pacers and Shardul Thakur would be quite excited to play in this ground where there is seam and a little bit of swing.
Shardul Thakur is an extremely potent pacer and can swing the ball as well.
One of the other good traits of Thakur is that he is a very versatile bowler. The 31-year-old can bowl in the powerplay and can also bowl in the death overs.
He is essentially a captain’s dream choice in terms of bowling.
2. Shardul Thakur is known to have a golden arm
Shardul Thakur is known for bagging wickets at regular intervals.
The bowling all-rounder can be trusted by the captain at any stage in the game and he can chip in with wickets and economical spells.
Therefore, he has been known as the player with the golden arm.
Whenever a captain of a team wants to take wickets, Shardul Thakur can come in and break the back of a partnership that has taken off and is flourishing.
He has so far played 35 ODIs, 25 T20Is and 8 Test matches. Shardul has bagged 27, 50 and 33 wickets respectively.
3. He had a good IPL 2022 season
Shardul Thakur had a fairly good IPL 2022 season with Delhi Capitals.
He was one of the most trustworthy campaigners of skipper Rishabh Pant and frequently left a lasting impact with the white-cherry.
He bagged 15 wickets for Delhi in 14 games and was one of the most crucial wicket-takers for Rishabh Pant’s side.
However, he leaked runs and that was a greying area of concern.
If he can fix that, he will undoubtedly be one of the match-winners of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in IPL 2023.
Also read: IPL 2023: 3 Reasons Why Litton Das Can Have A Good Debut IPL Season For KKR
