"Lord Thakur has some powers" - Aakash Chopra on Shardul Thakur's dismissals of Mayers and Brooks in 1st Ind vs WI ODI

Aakash Chopra believes Shardul Thakur has some 'powers' that help him take wickets at crucial junctures.

Shardul registered figures of 2/54 in the eight overs he bowled in the first ODI between Team India and West Indies, played at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Friday, July 22.

His dismissals of the well-set Shamarh Brooks and Kyle Mayers went a long way in helping the Men in Blue register a narrow three-run win in the series opener.

Aakash Chopra reflected on India's bowling performance in Friday's game in a video shared on his YouTube channel. He was in awe of Shardul's wicket-taking ability, elaborating:

"Lord Thakur has some powers that he picks up wickets. There was a partnership between Shamarh Brooks and Kyle Mayers. But then you got wickets, not one but two, and who takes those wickets, who dismisses Brooks and Mayers - Lord Thakur. Did those wickets fall on deliveries that deserved a wicket, may not be the case."

While observing that the Mumbai bowling all-rounder was not even given his full quota of overs, the former Indian opener highlighted that Shardul struck blows which hurt the opposition the most. Aakash Chopra observed:

"One was slightly a wide delivery and the other one was slightly short. Shikhar Dhawan didn't give him the full quota of overs in this match, he was stopped because he was proving very expensive and it didn't seem that he will pick up wickets, but it is not about what it seems, Shardul hurts the opposition's heart."

Shardul got rid of both Brooks and Mayers in back-to-back overs after the duo had stitched together a 117-run partnership for the second wicket. While Brooks pulled the seam-bowling all-rounder straight down Shreyas Iyer's throat at deep square leg, Mayers edged a full and wide delivery to Sanju Samson behind the wickets.

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"Siraj Miya is doing very well" - Aakash Chopra lauds Mohammed Siraj's bowling

Mohammed Siraj dismissed Shai Hope in his first spell

Aakash Chopra was also appreciative of the spells bowled by Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal, saying:

"When the opposition team came to bat, then Siraj at the start. Siraj Miya is doing very well, he is brilliant. The bad times Shai Hope is going through, he continued that further, he got out early. Yuzi Chahal, of course, a couple of wickets."

On the flip side, the cricketer-turned-analyst was slightly critical of Prasidh Krishna and Axar Patel's bowling performances. Aakash Chopra explained:

"Prasidh Krishna and Axar Patel are struggling a little bit. There was a slight injury concern with Axar but his performance has not been that good in the last few matches. Prasidh Krishna has been playing regularly now but the penetration or the wicket-taking is not coming. He has not been able to nail those yorkers."

Both Krishna and Axar went wicketless in the first ODI against West Indies. The two bowlers were slightly expensive as well, conceding an average of more than six per over.