Ranji Trophy final: Shardul Thakur rescues Mumbai with fiery 75
Shardul Thakur made his bat talk yet again as the Mumbai all-rounder smoked a fiery half-century in the first innings of the 2024 Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha. With the help of eight fours and three sixes, he scored 75 off 69 balls. Notably, he smoked a match-winning 109 in the semi-final game against Tamil Nadu. Here we look at his stats.
A stunning knock from Shardul
Mumbai suffered a sudden collapse after an 81-run opening stand as Shardul arrived with the scorecard reading 111/6. He joined forces with Shams Mulani (13) as the duo took Mumbai past 150. Shardul found another potent partner in number-10 batter Tushar Deshpande (14) as the duo added 42 runs. The former, who was the aggressor in the partnership, eventually fell to Umesh Yadav.
A look at his FC numbers
Playing his 82nd First-Class match, Shardul has raced to 1,949 runs at an average of around 20. While this was his 12th fifty, the 109 in the semi-final is his only century to date. Shardul has featured in 11 Tests for India, scoring 331 runs courtesy of four fifties. The 32-year-old has also claimed 262 FC wickets.
His run in the ongoing season
Playing his fifth game in the ongoing season, Shardul has raced to 255 runs at an impressive average of 36.42. His preceding scores in the competition read: 11, 31, 2, 17, 10, and 109. With the ball, he has claimed 16 wickets at a terrific average of 16.93. The tally includes a six-wicket haul.
Shardul propels Mumbai to decent score
Shardul was the only Mumbai batter to score over 50 as Mumbai posted a decent total of 224 while batting first. Openers Prithvi Shaw (46) and Bhupen Lalwani (37) made decent contributions. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey (3/62) and pacer Yash Thakur (3/54) were the key wicket-takers. Umesh (2/43) also dismissed a couple of batters.
