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Former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu wasn't a fan of Shardul Thakur getting selected into the playing XI for the fourth Test against England. Shardul was brought into the team as a replacement for Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has been ruled out of the series due to a knee injury.
Shardul had previously played in the first match of the series against England at Headingley, however wasn't able to impress with either the ball or the ball and thus, was dropped from the playing XI for the second Test. His performance hasn't improved much in the fourth Test as despite playing a cameo of 41, the all-rounder ended up leaking 41 runs in just five overs.
Sidhu labelled the 33-year-old all-rounder as a 'bits and pieces cricketer' and even went on to say that he wouldn't help the Men in Blue in winning matches on foreign soil.
“One area of problem, even if Shardul makes a fifty, at that number eight position, bits-and-pieces cricketers do well in one-day cricket, but in Test cricket, you always need specialists,” Sidhu said on his official YouTube channel.
“If you could bring Shardul the bowler at number eight, then I would agree this is the right selection. You do not bowl him enough, and then in order to increase the batting, you compromise with your bowling. Bits-and-pieces cricketers, I don't think, will ever win you games abroad. Even Jadeja could not pick wickets in the first two Tests with the rough. Batting, fielding, as an all-rounder, par excellence," he added.
Sidhu felt that India should have gone for a bowler instead of Shardul
Sidhu further remarked that rather than playing an all-rounder on No.8, the team management should have opted to go for a bowler, who could have handed them key wickets. He added that there is no guarantee if the No.8 batter will help in providing any stability to the side's innings.
“What is the purpose here? The guy at number eight, do you want him to give you five wickets or batting depth? If you want batting depth and that would win you games, then would those 200 runs (193 at Lord's) not have been chased? If seven can't do it, eight also won't. I have been repeating this point time and again. I feel this is again a compromise, and I feel it will not go in favour of India,” Sidhu stated.
Meanwhile, England capped off the second day of Manchester Test on 225/2 with Ollie Pope unbeaten on 20 and Joe Root batting on 11. The opening partnership of 166 runs between Zak Crawley (84) and Ben Duckett (94) played a massive role in handing the hosts the control of the match. They are currently 133 runs behind the Men in Blue's first-inning total, but are likely to surpass it as the action resumes on the third day.
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