Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has applauded Shardul Thakur for bowling a stunning spell in the Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) IPL 2025 win against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). He also added that the seam-bowling all-rounder proved his worth after going unsold in the IPL 2025 auction as well. However, Thakur registered figures of 4/34 in four overs as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Shardul Thakur – They were saying ‘Ek tha Thakur’, now they are saying ‘Thakur Zinda hai.’ Thakur sahab’s performance was incredible. He picked up two wickets in two overs in the first match, and here also, he first got Abhishek Sharma out and then Ishan Kishan for zero. Of course, Ishan Kishan was unfortunate. You generally don’t get out down the leg side like that, but he dismissed Abhishek Sharma with a bouncer. He didn’t end there. Thakur picked up four wickets. I was slightly surprised when he wasn’t picked in the auction.”
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“We had discussed that he was worth ₹2 crore for sure. In fact, he should have got more money. He has got that thing. Then he played well in SMAT (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy) and took the team ahead in the Ranji Trophy, and got an opportunity to play because Mohsin got injured. Bowled four over, took four wickets – I thought he was absolutely gold dust,” Chopra again shared.
While talking about SRH’s batting in their IPL 2025 match against LSG, Aakash Chopra also added that they continued playing aggressively despite losing wickets on a regular basis.
“Travis Head played well until he was there. He got a life. Nicholas Pooran dropped a catch. However, he didn’t stop and kept hitting. There is another special thing about this team. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen and Aniket Verma came, and they kept hitting. Aniket Verma is batting really well. He batted very well in the few balls he faced in the first match, and here he scored 36 runs off 13 balls, which included five sixes. This team’s philosophy is very different. They have underachieved based on their potential,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
