Mumbai all-rounder Shardul Thakur defends skipper Ajinkya Rahane and batter Shreyas Iyer after Day 1 of Ranji Trophy 2024 finals. Both Rahane and Iyer had a poor outing during MUM’s 1st innings vs VID. Thakur opines that skipper Rahane is going through a rough patch and that he shouldn’t be written off.
Shardul Thakur defends Rahane, Shreyas Iyer
“Ajinkya is not scoring runs throughout the season. He is not in the greatest of the forms. We cannot blame him as it is just a phase for him where he is not getting runs,” Thakur said after the day’s play. “It’s just a rough patch for them. That’s what I would say [about] Shreyas [and] Ajinkya. These guys have been absolute match-winners for Mumbai and India,” he says.
“Right now, it’s not their time; it’s time to support them rather than criticising them because it’s easy to criticise,” he adds.
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Shardul Thakur further heaps praise on Rahane, noting that his fielding has been top-notch. He claims that youngsters coming from U-23 and U-19 lack the attitude the Mumbai skipper possesses.
MUM vs VID Ranji Trophy 2024 final Day 1
Mumbai is on top after the first day’s play in the Ranji Trophy 2024 Final. After winning the toss, Akshay Wadkar decided to put Mumbai in at their home ground, the Wankhede Stadium. The decision seemed to have backfired as the Mumbai openers raced to 81 for no loss. However, a sudden collapse caused the home side to be reduced to 111/6. But things were far from over as Shardul Thakur struck a potential match-winning 75-run knock to take Mumbai to 224.
Vidarbha started cautiously, but the man in the form of his life, Shardul, came steaming and sent Dhruv Shorey back for a duck by a vicious in-ducker. Just as Atharva Taide and Aman Mokhade looked to have consolidated things, Dhawal Kulkarni sent Mokhade back to the pavilion. Kulkarni, playing in his next match, sent Vidarbha’s highest run scorer, Karun Nair, to the hut, with a 200-run trail still left.
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