Team India fast-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur shared his honest opinion on warming the bench in recent matches and drawing parallels with the situations faced by Abhimanyu Easwaran and Kuldeep Yadav. Shardul was picked in the squad for the five-match Test series against England, but he played only two matches.
He got the chance in the first Test at Leeds but failed to impress with both bat and ball and ended up losing his spot in the XI for the next two matches. The fast-bowling all-rounder was recalled in the XI for the Lord’s Test, and he scored 41 with the bat but remained wicketless in the 11 overs he bowled.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep and Easwaran didn’t get even a single match on the tour. Despite heavy backing from experts, Kuldeep was overlooked as Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill opted for Washington Sundar due to his batting depth. Easwaran, meanwhile, who had also travelled to Australia earlier, still awaits his Test debut.
Shardul revealed that he can relate to what Kudeep and Easwaran are going through and said that in these situations, the players start getting bored.
“On a few occasions, I was also in the same boat, being out and not getting enough games to show my potential. So yes, as a player, you go through a lot of emotions, and it’s not easy to sit out. At some point, you’ll feel bored and start questioning, ‘What am I doing here? I’m not getting a game.’ But at the end of the day, there are two things, like I said before. First, not everyone is privileged enough to be in the Indian side; everyone will agree on that. And the second thing is, unfortunately or fortunately, the competition is so high in India. There are so many players, and only 11 of them play at the end of the day. Correct,” Shardul said on RevzSports.
“I’m fortunate enough to be touring England or Australia”
However, the fast-bowling all-rounder also explained how to handle such scenarios, stressing that the first step is to accept the management’s decision of choosing the best XI suited for the conditions in that specific match.
“So, sitting out, we need to understand that probably this is the best 11 that management is looking at, and you’ll have to repeatedly tell your mind this was not my game, that’s why I was not selected, and probably according to the pitch conditions or whatever atmospheric conditions, this is the best 11 that we could field for the day, and I’m just not part of it. But yes, I am fortunate enough to be touring England or Australia, or also when you’re playing in India, to be in the side, to be sharing the same dressing rooms and meals that the other guys are having,” he added.