Shardul Thakur hits 37-ball fifty in Ranji Trophy final after Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, others fail vs Vidarbha

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Shardul Thakur emerged as the rescue man for Mumbai once again with a 37-ball fifty after they were reduced to 1116/6 on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

After Vidarbha invited Mumbai to bat first on Sunday, March 10, Mumbai got off to a flying start. Openers Prithvi Shaw (46 off 63), and Bhupen Lalwani (37 off 64) partnered for 81 runs.

But Mumbai witnessed a batting collapse after the departure of the duo. Musheer Khan (6), Shryeas Iyer (7), Hardik Tamore (5), Ajinkya Rahane (7) and Shams Mulani (13) went back to the pavilion one after the other. Iyer, who was recently dropped from BCCI's central contracts list, was dismissed by Umesh Yadav.

Shardul Thakur delivers for Mumbai once again

Shardul Thakur smashed his first first-class hundred when chips were down for Mumbai in the quarter-finals against Tamil Nadu. The India all-rounder rose to the occasion once again and scored a fifty to take Mumbai past 200.

He top-scored for Mumbai in the first innings, scoring 75 off 69 balls including eight fours and three sixes. Mumbai were bundled out for 224 in 64.3 overs. Umesh picked two wickets, while Harsh Dubey and Yash Thakur picked two wickets apiece.

Shardul Thakur was not part of the just-concluded Test series against England. But the 32-year-old is very likely to play a key role in the five-Test series in Australia towards the end of this year.

Shardul Thakur would soon be seen playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024. He was released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) before CSK bought him for Rs 4 crore.