falcons360 Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 MUMBAI: When any team goes though a 'transitional phase,' it struggles for a while before finding its feet. The best part of this period is that even though a side may get beaten along the way, it does discover a few players who go on to become the 'stars' of tomorrow. Mumbai, for example, struggled to stay afloat this Ranji season before making a final dash to the knockouts. There is a face in the new-look side, though, who is likely to be more well-known in the coming years: Shardul Thakur, a genuine quick, which is a precious commodity in Indian cricket. Shardul has taken 21 wickets in five games at an average of 26.90, with a five-wicket haul yet to come. Those who have seen him bowl know what this 22-year-old is capable of. Shardul bowls at good pace, clocking above 140kmph at times and swings the ball well. With the old ball, he can 'reverse' it too. The youngster has managed to impress captain Zaheer Khan, who himself is a great left-arm fast bowler and knows a pace bowling talent when he sees one. "I am particularly very impressed with Shardul. He has got the pace which is required at a higher level. He is very promising. He is someone we should invest in and hopefully we will get some good performances out of him," Zaheer said about Thakur on the eve of Mumbai's quarterfinal tie against Maharashtra at the Wankhede Stadium. For Shardul, praise from Zaheer was the best way for the New Year to begin. "I really appreciate it. He has so much idea about seam bowling. He knows which ball to bowl to which batsman in which session. It is a big boost to play with him," the youngster told TOI on Tuesday. This will be only the second time that Shardul gets to bowl with Zaheer in a Ranji match. "I am so looking forward to it. I will learn so much from him during the match itself," Shardul said. There are a few lessons Shardul has already imbibed from Zaheer in the nets. "He has given a few tips to me. His most important advice was to concentrate on my 'action timing.' If that is good, then you will be able to get wickets on the flattest of tracks.'" Shardul said. Of course, the results have only started to filter in after a massive transformation this young man went through. Last season, he looked overweight and wayward. This time, a completely different Shardul has turned up at the ground, and the results have been instant. "I worked hard in the off season, both on my bowling and on my fitness," he explained. He lost as much as 12 kilos and looks leaner and fitter. He has also hit the 'right areas' more often this season. Cricket, in fact, has never been an easy game for Shardul. He belongs to Palghar-Mahim and played his early cricket in the Tata Steel ground in Boisar. His father takes care of 'agricultural farms.' "It was difficult to travel from so far everyday, but I managed," he recalled. No one taught him any cricket. "I had no coach Dekh dekh ke seekha. (I looked at others and learned). When I was a kid, I used to watch Dale Steyn and Ajit Agarkar bowl. If I need advice, I go to Dinesh Lad (Rohit Sharma's coach) or Vilas Godbole (Mumbai's U-22 coach earlier)," he said.
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 He certainly has been a revelation this year after he looked fat last year and was not that quick. This year with a fitter self, his pace was also up and has a natural outswinger and did reverse big against Karnataka. Though still needs to improve a lot.
Cricketics Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Good to see support coming from Zaheer for someone. Zaheer is liked by many bowlers all over India. He himself gives his best all the time and I am sure he must have seen something special in Shardul that he is recognizing him.
King Tendulkar Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 "He has the pace required for top level" Please note this trundler fans and dhobi
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 He still needs to work on his fitness and stamina more. He need to have high stamina to last that pace for long.
Lord Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 "He has the pace required for top level" Please note this trundler fans and dhobi he bowls around 130s AFAIK
King Tendulkar Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 he bowls around 130s AFAIK My point was more in general about all bowlers needed for International cricket, espcially test cricket
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 he bowls around 130s AFAIK He has the ability to bowl high 130s to low 140s. He right now is lacking stamina to sustain it for long. He will improve as he plays more, I would think. The match I saw of Shardul, he was quicker than Shami when I first saw him 2 years back.
G_B_ Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 No he does not. Thakur is a trundler who has basically been very accurate this season. He will become a good ranji player for Mumbai. Nothing more and nothing less.
G_B_ Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Shardul is currently in the 125-130 zone. Has been the case for the past 2 seasons. He is not young like Dhawal who was in the same pace zone and but worked extra hard in the gym to raise it to 135.
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Shardul is currently in the 125-130 zone. Has been the case for the past 2 seasons. He is not young like Dhawal who was in the same pace zone and but worked extra hard in the gym to raise it to 135. I guess you are saying this without even seeing him. He clocked quickest at 142K in one match I watched live and was consistently around 135-136 and also got big reverse swing though he slowed down later as he cannot last pace for long at this point but even this is a great improvement in him since last year. Last year, he was in 128-134 bracket and this year in 132-142 bracket.
G_B_ Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 I guess you are saying this without even seeing him. He clocked quickest at 142K in one match I watched live and was consistently around 135-136 and also got big reverse swing though he slowed down later as he cannot last pace for long at this point but even this is a great improvement in him since last year. I have seen him live. Literally like a month ago. Goto the ranji thread and look at my pics. Even shook hands with him. Dont challenge me on all things mumbai. You dont know anything..... Quite frankly towards the end (fourth day ) of the Mumbai v Odisha match when i was there he was clocking 120 in the second innings.
Lord Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 My point was more in general about all bowlers needed for International cricket' date=' espcially test cricket[/quote'] that 130s is the required pace for intl. level?agree
G_B_ Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=2710130&postcount=2510 there you go. The pics of when i was there. Mumbai v Odisha days 3 and 4 i went. Shadul bowled plenty of overs and towards the end on the 4th day was barely clocking 120. He has been accurate but a trundler with lack of height he remains. You can even see him in the pictures i think when mumbai celebrate an Odisha wicket.
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 I have seen him live. Literally like a month ago. Goto the ranji thread and look at my pics. Even shook hands with him. Dont challenge me on all things mumbai. You dont know anything..... Quite frankly towards the end (fourth day ) of the Mumbai v Odisha match when i was there he was clocking 120 in the second innings. As I said, he right now lacks stamina to last his pace for long. He will get that as he bowls more. I saw him on TV with speed guns at Wankhede and I am not assuming or making things out. Zaheer is not saying this thing for nothing. He could have said the same for Javed Khan too but he did not. He bowled up to 142K this season and consistently around 135-136K even Kulkarni has never clocked this pace in Ranji trophy.
G_B_ Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 As I said' date=' he right now lacks stamina to last his pace for long. He will get that as he bowls more. I saw him on TV with speed guns at Wankhede and I am not assuming or making things out. Zaheer is not saying this thing for nothing. He could have said the same for Javed Khan too but he did not. He bowled up to 142K this season and consistently around 135-136K even Kulkarni has never clocked this pace in Ranji trophy.[/quote'] Zaheer has hardly played with JJ Khan. He has known and played with Shardul for a lot longer. I think they even play club cricket together. Shardul can manage a 3-4 over spell at the speeds your talking about. But make him bowl 10 overs on the trott and he will drop to 120. And kulkanri has topped that speed plenty of times in ranji. Last season especially in the semis and final broadcast live (even on bcci.tv) he broke the barrier many times with ease. secondly Shardul just does not have the height. Atleast Kulkarni is more than 6 feet tall.
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=2710130&postcount=2510 there you go. The pics of when i was there. Mumbai v Odisha days 3 and 4 i went. Shadul bowled plenty of overs and towards the end on the 4th day was barely clocking 120. He has been accurate but a trundler with lack of height he remains. You can even see him in the pictures i think when mumbai celebrate an Odisha wicket. Were there speed guns?
G_B_ Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Were there speed guns? you dont need a speed gun to tell you he was slow when the ball was reaching the keeper on the bounce......If anything i was being charitable with 120.
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Zaheer has hardly played with JJ Khan. He has known and played with Shardul for a lot longer. I think they even play club cricket together. Shardul can manage a 3-4 over spell at the speeds your talking about. But make him bowl 10 overs on the trott and he will drop to 120. And kulkanri has topped that speed plenty of times in ranji. Last season especially in the semis and final broadcast live (even on bcci.tv) he broke the barrier many times with ease. secondly Shardul just does not have the height. Atleast Kulkarni is more than 6 feet tall. I have already mentioned that he lacks stamina right now. He is just starting out and will improve and is still only 22. Even I was not impressed much last year as he was pretty overweight to be a fast bowler and was bowling high 120s to low 130s, but this season, he is much leaner and quicker, has worked on his action too. He is still has a long way to go and improve but signs are there. Regarding Zak has not played much with Javed, last season, Zak played full season with Javed and even in this season.
rkt.india Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 you dont need a speed gun to tell you he was slow when the ball was reaching the keeper on the bounce......If anything i was being charitable with 120. You can barely guess pace of a bowler watching in a stadium. I saw him live on speed guns and I am making things up.
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