T20 World Cup 2021 | Shardul Thakur is very similar to 'Lord' Ian Botham, says Michael Vaughan
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has compared India bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur to legendary Ian Botham and said that the 30-year-old has the ability to change the course of any game. Vaughan added that, just like Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul has the ability to deceive batsmen.
Notably, after breaking Ian Botham's record for fastest fifty on the English soil, Shardul Thakur had opened up on his comparisons with Ian Botham last month. The Mumbai batsman had scored match-winning fifties in each innings in the fourth Test against England at the Kennington Oval.
“I was not aware of it (breaking Ian Botham’s record). But it’s always good to score important runs for the team. Yes, these guys are teasing me with his name. But I think it’s good to be compared with the greats of the game,” Shardul, who had also scored a match-winning fifty in India's iconic Gabba Test against Australia in January this year, said.
Now, Vaughan has also likened him to the former England great who scored 5,200 runs and scalped 383 wickets in his 102-Test long career. He also played 116 ODIs, scoring 2,113 runs, while bagging 145 wickets.
"Last week I was with Lord Botham and he is a true lord. Thakur is very similar to Ian Botham. He gets the ball in his hands and makes things happen. He did it in the Test series, he did it in the IPL. The mentor of the Indian T20 team is behind the stumps. He was captaining him. He was probably on the phone with Virat and Ravi talking about him, saying 'come on'. He (Shardul) has that ability to make things happen," Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
Michael Vaughan also explained how Shardul Thakur has Ashwin-like ability to deceive the batsmen with his pace variations.
"He must have a very good deception of pace because you watch him and it's like 'yeah, it's pretty normal. But he has that deception like Ashwin. He bowls and it goes through quickly, bowls cross-seam and goes through quickly. He has that ability to surprise the batter and those subtle variations that we can't pick up," added Vaughan.
Shardul was initially kept in the reservea list of India's T20 World Cup 2021 squad, but was later included in the main squad just ahead of the inaugural match of the tournament on October 17. The CSK star picked up 21 wickets to finish as the joint third-highest wicket-taker in the IPL 2021. He did not featue in India's first warm-up game against England on Monday, but has been included in the eleven for the second and final warm-up match against Australia. India kick off their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign against Pakistan on October 24.
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