IPL 2021: “Shardul Thakur’s incredible self-belief makes him a special cricketer” - CSK bowling consultant Eric Simons

Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) bowling consultant Eric Simons reckons that all-rounder Shardul Thakur has incredible self-belief, which makes him a special talent.

Thakur claimed 2 for 29 on Friday as CSK defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in match number 35 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Sharjah. With the win, CSK moved to the top of the points table, with 14 points from nine matches.

Speaking after the win, Simons hailed Thakur’s contribution in the game even as Dwayne Bravo walked away with the man of the match for his figures of 3 for 24.

Also Check: IPL Live Score | IPL Points Table | IPL Schedule

“Shardul Thakur is somebody that you can throw the ball to under any circumstances. He wants to bowl and bat under any circumstances. He has incredible self-belief and that is what makes him such a special cricketer. As a team, we very strongly look at the execution of our tactics rather than the outcome. Sometimes, the bowler gets hit for fours and sixes even though the execution is good,” the CSK bowling consultant said at a post-match conference.

He admitted that CSK did not get their act right with the ball in the first half. Simons credited Thakur for providing the team with crucial breakthroughs and stalling RCB’s momentum.

“We didn’t get it quite right in the first half. But in the second half, he (Thakur), in many ways, (shifted) the momentum. He bowled in the right areas and he was clever about the way he went about his bowling. A lot of people speak about our bowling attack being a smart one and I think he epitomized that today. He used his ability to read the wicket and the batsmen in the situation,” Simons opined.

Thakur dismissed AB De Villiers (12) and Devdutt Padikkal (70) off consecutive deliveries in the 17th over. RCB could only score 16 runs in the last three overs of their innings.

"Last season's IPL was a tremendous lesson for us" - Simons on CSK’s resurgence

Last season in the UAE, CSK had a horror run and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time (barring the two seasons when they were suspended). However, the Chennai franchise impressed in the first half in India this year and have continued their resurgence in the UAE.

Elaborating how the turnaround was made possible, Simons said the franchise did some soul-searching and found the answers they were seeking.

“We spoke about what went wrong for us in India in the first half of the IPL and we spoke about what we did wrong here (last season). Any situation, be it a good performance or a bad performance, is a learning. What went wrong in the last IPL was a tremendous lesson for us. But you have to learn the lessons and I think we did,” Simons said.

“The balance of our team is really good. Our batting, the way that we have come out and played with the sort of aggression that we do… We have put together a well-balanced team. We have learnt out lessons from the previous IPL here and applied that in India, where we played a different brand of cricket,” the 59-year-old former South African cricketer concluded.

Having defeated MI and RCB comprehensively, CSK will next take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.