Team India’s star bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) Auction in Dubai. CSK won a bidding war against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to buy Shardul for ₹4 crore. This will be his second stint with them, having played for them from 2018 to 2021 as well.

Speaking about returning to CSK, Shardul Thakur mentioned how the team management backed him fully during his first stint. Speaking on Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube channel, he said: “Yes, they bid for me, but they also like me as a player, and they trust in my abilities. Also, when I played with them from 2018 until 2021, they invested a lot in me and gave me a lot of game time in the IPL. There were a lot of ups and downs for me in the IPL, but they backed me completely until the last game of the tournament. In fact, we lost the final; I didn’t have a great final. Despite that, they backed me, and two years later, I had the fortune of experiencing the championship with them.”

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However, Shardul Thakur won two titles with CSK, in 2018 and 2021. Moreover, he was the highest wicket-taker for the team in both times. However, Shardul Thakur performed poorly with the ball for his former franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), claiming just seven wickets from 11 matches.

He concluded: “I was the highest wicket-taker for CSK in 2018 and 2021, when we won. So, both the championships. I have a feeling I might repeat it this time. The crowd that comes to Chennai is absolutely electrifying. That is one of the loudest cheers ever heard in my life, obviously for none other than MS Dhoni.”