Lucknow Super Giants seamer Shardul Thakur did not mince his words as he took a sharp dig at cricket commentators for their persistent criticism of bowlers in the IPL. After his impressive performance against Gujarat Titans, where he picked up two wickets and helped LSG secure a crucial win, Thakur used the post-match press conference to set the record straight.
“I’ve always believed that, as a bowling unit, we’ve bowled well throughout the season,” Thakur said. “A lot of times in commentary, there’s criticism — they try to be hard on the bowlers. But you have to understand that cricket is moving in a certain direction where 200+ scores are becoming more common.”
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Thakur currently sits second in the Purple Cap race with 11 wickets in six matches. Still, the 33-year-old believes bowlers aren’t getting their due respect from the pundits.
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“It’s easy to sit in a studio and comment on someone’s bowling, but they don’t see the real picture out there on the ground,” he fired. “I’m sure they should look at their own stats before criticising anyone.”
LSG now sit third on the table with four wins in six matches. Despite missing an overseas bowler, the team has defended scores impressively.
“Credit to us that we’ve defended scores on two occasions when we batted first. We put up a good score, the pitch became better for batting, and even with drastic changes, we managed to defend. So it was about holding our nerves till the end and believing in ourselves that we could win the game, provided we got an important wicket or bowled a key over,” Thakur said.
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, points table and IPL live score for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Don’t miss the list of players in the race for IPL Orange Cap and IPL Purple cap.
