Former England captain Michael Vaughan is known for courting controversies with his outrageous remarks about Team India on social media. However, the England skipper is expected to get a thumbs-up from the fans and followers of the Indian cricket team as far as his recent remarks about Shardul Thakur are concerned. The former England batsman has managed to draw a parallel between the Indian bowling all-rounder and iconic cricketer Ian Botham.
Vaughan believes Thakur is similar to the legendary Botham, who is regarded as the best all-rounder the Three Lions have ever produced in world cricket. While comparing the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) superstar to the former England skipper, Vaughan also claimed that it was MS Dhoni’s suggestion to draft Shardul in the 15-man squad of the Indian side from the reserve list. The Indian all-rounder had recently swapped places with Axar Patel in the Indian squad ahead of the ICC World T20 2021.
“Last week I was with Lord Botham and he is a true lord. Thakur is very similar to Ian Botham. He gets the ball in his hands and makes things happen. He did it in the Test series, he did it in the IPL. The mentor of the Indian T20 team is behind the stumps. He was captaining him. He was probably on the phone with Virat and Ravi talking about him, saying ‘come on’. He (Shardul) has that ability to make things happen,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.
After guiding CSK to their fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) title last week, legendary cricketer Dhoni has joined the Team India camp as the mentor of the Kohli-led side for the T20 World Cup. Dhoni’s CSK teammate and all-rounder Shardul was named in the starting XI of the Team India side for their second warm-up game against Australia on Wednesday.
Pace ace Shardul has been in exceptional form for the Asian giants. The Mumbaikar had a fruitful run in the high-profile Test series between India and England before the all-rounder played an instrumental role in CSK’s title-winning season. Shardul had shattered Botham’s record by registering the fastest Test fifty in England.
