Shardul Thakur's long wait for earning the tag of an India player was fulfilled in 2017. It was also a period that saw him nursing an ankle injury at the beginning of the year and ending it with a dislocated shoulder. In between, he showed his maturity with the red cherry and a marked improvement in his white-ball performances. Before leaving for South Africa, where he will first help India batsmen prepare better for the third Test and then don the Blues during the six-ODI series, Thakur spelt out his success formula and also stressed on the need for Mumbai cricket to look beyond the success in Ranji Trophy. Excerpts:
How would you sum up the year gone by?
It was a mixed year. Start of the year, before the Ranji final, i detected a niggle in my ankle. I went on to play the Ranji fnal, did well but then had to miss the Irani Trophy; played only two league games in T20 zonal league in Baroda. Then the one-day tournament turned out to be quite good for me. Went on to play the Deodhar Trophy, did well. In the IPL, i did well. Then again a few ankle issues. Had to manage that as well. Then went on to play the A series and got picked for India as well. So overall it was a mixed year where I also performed and also suffered injuries. In the month of November, towards the end, injured my shoulder during the Ranji game, so quite a mixed season.
What was the most satisfying achievement of the year for you?
The most satisfying part was to see that my performances were noticed and time to time, I got a call in the Indian team. Obviously the highlight was your India debut. How have you managed the stop-and-start syndrome when you join the India squad, don't get much game time, come back to the domestic grind hoping for the next call-up? I would say playing at higher level, whether you are playing the Ranji Trophy or the IPL or at the international level, skill is the key; otherwise you cannot sustain. Skill part is fine, by hook or crook, you have to keep improving skills and keep performing and you have to win games for the team, for yourself and win the games. Mentally it was quite challenging because you are not sure about your place. Sometimes you are in the team but you don't know whether you are playing a game for India. Sometimes you are on the verge of playing for India but you're not getting a game. Then again going back to domestic cricket. Sometimes there's even a gap of a month since you have played a game. It's not easy to go back to domestic and perform right away. Take a bit of time to get the match-rhythm back. On those parameters, it was difficult to manage myself this year. You seem to have fared reasonably well...
would think so. Even after being in the squad for the ODI against against New Zealand – I played the preceding A series as well – going back to Ranji Trophy, I felt different because I had played a lot of white-ball cricket and I had not touched the red ball at all. The only red-ball game I was involved in was the Ranji Trophy final in the month of January. Since then, the first red-ball game I played was against Odisha in Odisha in November, so there was a gap of almost 10 months. It was difficult to switch over. As the season progressed, I managed to get the rhythm back. Before 2017, there was a notion that you kind of struggled with the white ball. How did you script the turnaround?
Quite a few people spoke to me earlier that I had to be a better bowler with white-ball cricket than what I was. I was doing well with the red ball but had to cope better with the white ball, they said. I feel the other way around. I always had the talent and I always wished to play ODIs and T20s as well but if you see, the local cricket format in Mumbai – club or corporate cricket – most of it is played with the red ball, so that exposure with white ball wasn't there. Even a lot of T20 games happen with red ball, so I feel you don't get a lot of exposure to white-ball cricketer being a Mumbai cricketer. If you see, for the last two or three years, we are only playing five to six one-day games, we struggle to qualify for knock-outs (of Vijay Hazare Trophy). Last year, we did well in T20s but there was no inter-state knock-outs. I feel I was lacking the experience of playing with the white ball. I feel last year I played a lot of matches with the white ball and I kept recollecting the learnings from whatever little white-ball cricket the year before last. It may have been a spell in the nets or in a game, so I tried to replicate that last year and I think playing more and more cricket with the white ball has helped me improve as a bowler in limited overs' formats. Do you think it's time the Mumbai cricket fraternity starts looking beyond the Ranji Trophy success and gives more emphasis on shorter formats?
I personally feel that the thoughts that are put in our mind when we start playing for Mumbai in age-group cricket – under-16 or under-19 – it should be a mixture of red-ball cricket and white-ball cricket. People shouldn't only share experiences only with the red-ball cricket, playing in Ranji Trophy. They should more often talk about the white-ball cricket, because if you see, a lot of teams are doing much better than Mumbai in one-dayers and T20s. The question arises here is why Mumbai team lacks trophies in white-ball cricket and the answer lies in the roots and not just when the tournament arrives and you select a team and practice for a while. There should be some sort of white-ball cricket involved on the club cricket circuit as well. Do you think Indian cricket has reached a stage where a good IPL has become a must for the India call-up?
I feel IPL performances will be counted because it's almost like international cricket, especially for Indian bowlers. There are a lot of international players playing, so the dressing room atmosphere is different. There are a lot of international players around. When you talk to them about their ideas, their experiences, it helps you realise how good a player you are and what needs to be done for you to improve. So the IPL helps you in different ways. I think someone who has done well in the IPL can also perform in international cricket, so that factor is always going to be there. What are the goals you have set for yourself in 2018?
Personally I am really preparing for the upcoming South Africa one-day series. As I have always said that personal goals would be there – I would always want to achieve something for myself in 2018 – but more than that, it has to be based on match-by-match basis. I can't afford to think too much in the long-term. Obviously there are a few things that I may be thriving but I also have to realise that there is a process to reach there. I would just rather stay in the present and take each game as it comes and try and take wickets and contribute to the team in whatever little way I can. Having toured South Africa earlier with India A, what are the challenges for an Indian fast bowler in South Africa?
If you see, the home team will always have an advantage, no matter what. They have played in those conditions, they are aware about how the pitch behaves. The challenge for us is to adapt in those situations and go out there and express us to the fullest. Skill-wise I think everyone has hell lot of skills. But end of the day, it's about how confidently you go out there and execute your skills in a match. I hope we can deliver consistently.
