Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra lauded Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Shardul Thakur for his astonishing performance for the two-time champions on their home soil against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Thakur was at his absolute best hammering the bowlers of RCB in their second match.
Shardul Thakur silenced the experts, with his performance for Kolkata Knight Riders, as he smashed 68 runs off just 29 balls and picked up the important wicket of Michael Bracewell to help KKR register their first win in IPL 2023.
“There is no doubt who was the Player of the Match. There have been a lot of questions over Shardul Thakur, to be very honest, and even I have raised a few questions, that he has been picked for 10.75 crores, Delhi released him and Kolkata took him, what is the thought behind it, and all of that,” Aakash Chopra said.
Aakash Chopra praised Thakur for his excellent batting display on the Eden Gardens, as he took the RCB bowlers for cleaners, from a position where the two champions looked like their bundling out for 150-160 runs as they were struggling at 89-5 at one stage losing their top-order batters cheaply.
“Lord Thakur came and shone. I think this is Lord’s world and we have just come to live in it. Kolkata’s situation was extremely bad. They were 89/5 at one stage after 11.3 overs. This team had no chance of reaching 150-175 but then Lord came – the Palghar Express,” Aakash Chopra added.
Coming into the match, Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers bowled brilliantly well in the first-half innings picking up 5 wickets including their skipper Nitish Rana and dangerous Andre Russell. With KKR struggling at one stage, Shardul Thakur played a blistering inning along with young Rinku Singh to post a mammoth total of 204/7 at the end of 20 overs
With 205 to chase, Royal Challengers Bangalore found no match to the two-time champions as the batters fell in packs as were bundled out 123 runs inside 18 overs facing a huge defeat of 81 runs in the second match of the league stage.
Thakur Was Outstanding – Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra hailed Shardul Thakur for picking up the important wicket of Michael Bracewell, stating that the New Zealander batter was the dangerous batter in that RCB’s batting lineup. Varun Chakravarthy, Suyash Sharma, and Sunil Narine damaged the RCB batting lineup picking up 9 wickets for their team.
“He also picked up a wicket and that was Michael Bracewell’s wicket. If RCB had even a one-percent chance of winning, it was because of Michael Bracewell and when he also got out, it was Tata bye-bye. Lord Thakur was outstanding,” Aakash Chopra said.
Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Gujarat Titans in their third game in Narendra Modi Stadium on April 9. The two-time champions will look to continue their winning momentum against the Defending Champions.