Out of favour Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur played an astonishing knock of unbeaten 73 runs off just 28 balls and helped Mumbai score 403 runs in the ongoing edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Nagaland which is being played at the Narendra Modi Stadium Ground A (Motera) in Ahmedabad, on December 31 (Tuesday). His innings along with Ayush Mhatre's 181 helped Mumbai be in match-winning position.
Ayush Mhatre's 181-run knock
Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Ayush Mhatre gave Mumbai an astonishing start with their 156-run opening partnership. Raghuvanshi returned to the dugout after scoring 56 runs but had done his job. Mhatre even after his partner's departure continued to haunt the Nagaland bowlers and played a beautiful innings of 181 runs which included 15 fours and 11 boundaries. However, he is one of those names that despite having lots of buzz around them went unsold in the bidding wars of the IPL 2025 season.
Shardul Thakur provides blazing boost
However, Ayush Mhatre got out in the 37th over and Nagaland used that to make a quick comeback by taking a couple of quick wickets at regular intervals and they went from 268/3 to 290/6 in no time. However, Shardul Thakur who was also captaining the side in the game ensured that Mumbai will utilise the good star they got and post a massive total. Mumbai were 362/7 by 47.2 overs and he helped Mumbai score 41 runs in the final 16 balls.
His 73 not out off 28 balls also included 8 sixes and two fours. His innings provided Mumbai with a major boost and took their score over 400. They finished their innings at 403/7 in fifty over. However, Shardul Thakur who was once India's regular pick has not been able to find a spot on the national side anymore and recently even went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
At the time of writing, Mumbai have rattled Nagaland's batting and have reduced them to 40/5 by 13 overs. They lost their first five wickets by a score of 23. Shardul Thakur picked two off those five wickets.