The axe has finally fallen on Shardul Thakur. India Cricket Team have dropped the supposed all-rounder from SA vs IND 2nd Test in Cape Town. He hasn’t had a great run of form in Test cricket since taking that seven-wicket haul in Johannesburg in 2021-22 series.
Instead of Shardul Thakur, Mukesh Kumar comes in as a replacement. India are going with four seamers and a spinner in Ravindra Jadeja in SA vs IND 2nd Test.
Since his seven-wicket haul in Johannesburg against South Africa, Shardul Thakur’s numbers have dwindled. He has only bagged seven wickets since that Test. In the SA vs IND 1st Test, Shardul could only manage a wicket going for 101 runs in 19 overs.
And expectedly, the axe has fallen. Shardul always manages to sneak into the India Playing XI thanks to his batting skills. That he has three half-centuries in England and Australia combined is a great testament. However, he hasn’t been as reliable with the bat either. Thus, he gets the axe.
India Playing XI 2nd Test: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar
Editors pick
