Mumbai pace-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur continued to breathe fire in the ongoing Ranji Trophy as he single-handedly is driving his side towards the business end of the premiere red-ball competition of India. Thakur after smashing a century against Jammu and Kashmir and a rapid 84 against Meghalaya combined with a couple of four-wicket hauls, registered a six-fer in the quarter-final against Haryana to bowl Mumbai to a crucial first-innings lead.
Mumbai were down and out at 113/7 before the lower order of Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian lifted to a strong score of 315, which has been the story of the defending champions throughout the season. Haryana, on the other hand, had a contrasting start to their innings with captain Ankit Kumar smashing a well-compiled century but there was the golden arm of Shardul Thakur waiting to strike.
Haryana lost the last six wickets for 44 runs as they went from 257/4 to 301 all out with Thakur taking five of them. Haryana lost the advantage with the collapse and Shardul Thakur, who is out of the Test team and didn’t find takers at the IPL auction, is making a case for himself rather vehemently. This was Thakur’s first five-wicket haul of the season and his figures of 6/58 were key in Mumbai taking a first step towards advancing to the semis.
With an England tour scheduled in June and July later this year, Thakur has put his hand up to be on the plane to London.
Mumbai have already lost three wickets in their second innings but it has been a better show from the top-order. Openers Ayush Mhatre and Akash Anand survived the first eight overs before Siddhesh Lad added 43 runs. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav are in the middle and the lead has already gone beyond 150. Can Haryana storm back?
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