“He would struggle to get into Karnataka’s playing XI,” former Indian pacer attacks Shardul Thakur for his recent performances in World Cup

Dodda Ganesh claims Indian pacer, Shardul Thakur, is not good enough to get in Karnataka's playing XI.

“He would struggle to get into Karnataka’s playing XI,” former Indian pacer attacks Shardul Thakur for his recent performances in World Cup

Dodda Ganesh claimed Shardul Thakur won't get in the Karnataka team's playing 11 (Image via ESPN)

Shardul Thakur has taken 21 wickets so far in 2023 for India in ODIs. In the 16 matches he has played, he has usually played as the 3rd pacer for the Indian side. Although he is the 3rd highest wicket taker for India in the past year, he has not had much impact in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. In the 3 matches he’s played, he has only picked up 2 wickets. Seeing his form, former Indian pacer Dodda Ganesh claimed that he isn’t good enough for the Karnataka State Cricket Team. 

After a below average performance against Bangladesh, where he gave the figures of 1/59 in 9 overs, Ganesh was vocal on his X account about his thoughts of Shardul Thakur. He posted, “With due respect to Shardul Thakur, on his bowling alone he would struggle to make it to Karnataka’s playing Xl in any format, let alone India’s.”

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Dodda Ganesh has played 4 tests and one ODI for India in his 11 year cricket career. He played over 100 first class matches and 89 List As for Karnataka. In the four test matches he played, all in either South Africa or West Indies, he picked up only five wickets with an average of 57.40. 

Related: “Don’t get fooled by overall averages,” India great BLAST Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid for picking Shardul Thakur in ODI World Cup squad

Rohit Sharma revealed he wanted to send Shardul Thakur to bat at No. 5 against Bangladesh 

After beating Bangladesh in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup, Shubman Gill interviewed his captain, Rohit Sharma. Gill asked Rohit about his plan to send Shardul Thakur to bat after Shreyas Iyer in the match, which Rohit said he wanted to do. 

Shardul Thakur batting against the West Indies (Image via ESPN)

Rohit Sharma had asked Shardul to pad up but just a few moments later Iyer got dismissed. Due to this KL Rahul, who was already padded up, had to go to bat instead of Thakur. Gill and Sharma joked about how the Pune crowd was unhappy they didn’t get to see Shardul Thakur bat. 

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