'Why are you playing him?': Dinesh Karthik blasts Indian team management for not 'trusting' Shardul Thakur

To everyone's surprise, pacer Shardul Thakur was only handed the ball on six occasions by India captain Shubman Gill during England's first innings of the Headingley Test. Though the 33-year-old proved to be quite expensive and ended up giving away 38 runs in the six overs that he bowled, every Indian bowler other than Jasprit Bumrah also struggled against the England batters so there is no reason why Shardul shouldn't have been handed more overs.

Karthik questioned Shardul's inclusion in the playing XI

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik raised questions over the inclusion of Shardul and criticized the team management for the under-utilization of the all-rounder, who was introduced to the attack well after the 40-over mark had been crossed during England's innings. Karthik also accused the team management of not showing 'trust' towards the pacer, who has 31 wickets under his name in 11 Tests so far.

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“The Shardul Thakur decision that Team India's management needs to look at - If they are not going to trust his bowling, why are they playing him? That is definitely an issue. If you are not going to trust a bowler, why have you played him? I understand when you play four fast bowlers, you are not going to give equal opportunity for Shardul,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

“When he did bowl, he did not bowl very nicely, but to give six overs when you have bowled so much is not a great picture. I feel bad for Shardul, but I can understand what Shubman is thinking. He is able to create more pressure on England when the other bowlers are bowling,” he added.

Shardul has so far not been able to impress with either the bat or the ball during the ongoing match. While he didn't get many chances to bowl, he only managed to score a single run with the bat during India's first innings. It remains to be seen if he will be given more overs to bowl in England's upcoming second innings.

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Meanwhile, coming to the match, India have pushed England on the back-foot following centuries from both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant and have taken their lead over the 300-run mark. While Pant got dismissed after playing a fantastic knock of 118 runs from 140 deliveries, Rahul is still on the crease, piling on more misery for the England bowlers. It will be interesting to see if the hosts manage to tumble India's remaining six wickets or if the team management decides to declare later on the fourth day or hold that decision until the final day of the match.