"Bhuvneshwar conveyed to us that the slower one will work well" - Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur has disclosed that Bhuvneshwar Kumar conveyed to Virat Kohli and the bowlers after the first over itself that slower deliveries were likely to yield results on the Ahmedabad pitch.

The Indian bowlers bamboozled the England batsmen with their eclectic mix of slower deliveries in the second T20I. It helped the hosts to restrict the Eoin Morgan-led side to a manageable score of 164/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

During a post-match interview with Star Sports, Shardul Thakur credited Bhuvneshwar Kumar for reading the wicket in his first over and sharing with the other seamers that change of pace is the best way forward.

"Bhuvneshwar bowled the first over. He immediately conveyed to all the bowlers and the captain that the ball is gripping nicely on the pitch, so the slower one will work well," said Thakur.

The Palghar-born pacer observed the plan not only helped restrict the flow of runs but also yielded them wickets.

"We changed our plans immediately and we thought bowling maximum slower ones on this pitch will give a lot of trouble for the batsmen to play their shots. And that is what happened, they faced difficulties in playing shots and we got wickets also along with that," added Shardul Thakur.

Extraordinary death bowling by team india.The plan to bowl slower balls worked perfectly! 🔥👌Excellent by Bhuvi,Thakur and Hardik #INDvENG #INDvsENG_2021

— Praveen (@praveen_raghav7) March 14, 2021

Shardul Thakur got both his wickets, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, with nicely concealed slower deliveries that made the duo mistime their shots.

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"Even the bowlers don't know if cross-seam balls will bounce or skid" - Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur has the experience of playing more than 100 T20s

Shardul Thakur pointed out that cross-seam deliveries have different behaviour depending on whether they land on the seam or not, when asked about him using those balls as well.

"We play a lot on dry pitches in India. When we bowl cross-seam, it sometimes hits on the seam and on the hemi-sphere at other times. Even the bowlers don't know if that ball will bounce or skid. So, I think it is a very good variation to use especially on dry pitches," said Thakur.

The 29-year-old concluded by stating that his vast experience of playing on Indian pitches has made him realise that a combination of seam-up and cross-seam deliveries yields the best results in subcontinental conditions.

"The experience I have got from the games I have played in the IPL or for the country, especially in Indian conditions, I have come to the conclusion that if we keep using cross-seam deliveries along with seam-up deliveries, they will be quite effective," signed off Shardul Thakur.

Shardul Thakur finished with excellent figures of 2/29 in the second T20I against England. He conceded only 13 runs in the two overs he bowled at the death, while also bagging the wickets of Morgan and Stokes.

Shardul Thakur's Death over bowling 🔥W, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1 : 18th Over1, 1B, 0, W , 0, 4 : 20th Over#WhistlePodu | @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/GZ2ibadXXW

— CSK Fans Army™ (@CSKFansArmy) March 14, 2021