NewsHardik wants Shardul to be at MI 'for the rest of your career'
Shardul Thakur had waited the best part of a decade for last night. Between 2011 and 2013 he bowled at Mumbai Indians nets, hoping for a proper call-up; instead he toured the IPL, representing six other franchises. At the seventh attempt – traded in from Lucknow Super Giants during the off-season – he finally appeared in MI colours and walked away with Player of the Match: 3 for 39 on a Wankhede surface that produced a total of 444 runs.
Mumbai’s 17-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders was also their first opening-day success since 2012. The new captain, Hardik Pandya, made his feelings plain at the presentation. “I told him [Shardul] this season, enough hopping of franchises. I want you to be here for the rest of your career,” Pandya said. “He’s a character, he has a big heart. The way he comes out and always tries to outsmart a batter, it’s simply brilliant. Really happy for him.”
Shardul’s most telling contribution arrived in the sixth over. KKR were cantering at 68 without loss when Pandya tossed him the ball. Two deliveries later the dangerous Finn Allen dragged a slower one to long-on for 37 off 17. Thakur has built a reputation on such moments and later explained why. “I’ve said this before – I like challenges,” he remarked. “This was one of the challenging situations I had to bowl in, especially the sixth over… Challenges are what have made me till now. Today was one of those performances.”
The Wankhede holds particular meaning for the 34-year-old. Raised in Palghar, he helped Mumbai win the Ranji Trophy in 2012-13 and 2015-16 and captained them last season. From the dais he allowed himself a short detour down memory lane: “I’ve had bittersweet memories at this ground. To play for MI is special. I was a net bowler as an upcoming boy, been with the team in 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons, quietly bowling here, making my mark. Since then, it was always going to happen. It’s finally happened that I’m in Mumbai Indians playing for my home team. It feels special.”
Pandya’s public request for loyalty was met with a warm response. “I’ll be very happy if I stay here, it’s home city. The kind of backing I had coming here was amazing, thank you to the MI family for backing me, trading me from LSG, and straightaway awarding me right from first game,” Thakur said.
Social media lit up again with the familiar “Lord Shardul” memes – a light-hearted title bestowed after his rescue act at the Gabba in 2021. Thakur did not mind the noise, shrugging and smiling in the mixed zone. “I like it,” he admitted. “It’s the name given b…” The rest of the sentence was lost beneath laughter, which felt about right on a night when patience had finally paid off.
Analysis
Hard numbers sit neatly alongside the emotion. Only 30 legal deliveries came from Thakur, yet his wickets – Allen, Cameron Green and Nitish Rana – removed KKR’s top-order engine. The key was variation rather than raw pace: cutters into the surface, one wide yorker, two well-disguised slower balls. Drop-in pitches at Wankhede this season have offered extra bounce, so the shortened length was logical, but the subtle grip came from Thakur’s scrambled seams. MI’s powerplay economy (11.33 runs per over) had forced Pandya’s hand; the over that produced Allen’s dismissal cost just five, shifting the run-rate equation.
Support acts mattered too. Jasprit Bumrah, making his own comeback, leaked only seven from the 18th over, while Pandya’s two overs up top created scoreboard pressure despite no wickets. Bat first, post 231, defend with changes of pace – a simple template, yet MI executed it after years of slow starts.
Where does that leave Thakur? He remains a fourth-seamer option for India, but a settled role at MI – even if only the middle overs – could offer rhythm missing since his Chennai days. A small sample, yes, though worth tracking. For now he has what he wanted most: the sky-blue shirt, the roar of the home crowd and a captain asking him not to move again.
