In Hardik's absence, Shardul's childhood coach bats for his inclusion in India XI: 'He can swing both bat and ball'

Shardul Thakur's childhood coach Dinesh in an interview with Sportskeeda said that he feels Shardul can replace Pandya in the playing XI.

Hardik Pandya is one of the testaments of how successful Indian Premier League has helped in the rise of domestic talents in Indian cricket. Several current big names including the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya brothers, Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, etc., all made their names first in the IPL before being picked for India and making a mark.

Hardik Pandy and Shardul Thakur. (File)

One of the reasons behind Hardik Pandya's success was that he adapted quickly to conditions and situations. Despite being a modern-day hard-hitting batsmen, Pandya also managed to make a mark in Test cricket and became a regular in the Test team. But after suffering a back injury that required a surgery, Pandya has been able to return to his bowling duties, which has led to him being not picked in India playing XI in Test team.

Pandya was not picked for the Test squad against Australia and then he did not play a single game against England in the home Test series despite being in the squad. Now, Pandya has also not being picked for the WTC final and the following England series, and the question in everyone's mind is who will be India's allrounder in the crucial matches.

“As a coach, I would want Shardul to be given preference in the WTC final based on how he has been performing of late. He can swing both the ball and bat, and it will be a plus point for India to let Shardul fill that all-rounder’s role. But again, everything depends on the team management and coaches,” he said.

“He will definitely get preference in the long run because India are currently lacking in all-rounders. Hardik Pandya was playing as an all-rounder but now he is not able to bowl because of injury. Teams need fast-bowling all-rounders and there is only Shardul Thakur in the queue. But in order to perform well, he needs to get a long run of matches,” Lad explained.

“They have some 10-12 days window before the first match, so he will get ample time to practice and get used to the conditions. And he recently played against England, so I don’t think he will have any problem. I have just one funda, I have always told him to make the batsman play without thinking about movement, because the batter will make a mistake but in order to make that happen, he needs to be enticed to play.

“He has the ability and hence reached that level, so he just needs to hold a particular line and length to get wickets. He has also learnt to handle pressure, like how we saw him bat in pressure situation and help India win in Brisbane,” he further added.

“He did a few batting sessions with me during the off season. Like Rohit, Shardul is also a naturally attacking player. But he has worked on his patience and now started playing shots along the ground as well,” he signed off.