IPL 2025: 'Unsold' Shardul Thakur justifies franchises' decision with horrible SMAT performance

Mumbai and India National Cricket Team all-rounder Shardul Thakur, on Friday (29th November), achieved a disappointing record to his name. The right-arm pacer now holds the record for the joint most expensive spell in the history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Shardul achieved an unwanted record to his name during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 game between Mumbai and Kerala on Friday (29th November). The match between the two teams took place at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Shardul Thakur looked torrid with the ball in the game against Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25

Shardul, who went unsold in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Auction 2025, looked torrid with the ball in the game against Kerala. The bowling all-rounder was taken to the cleaners by the batters, and he didn't look at his best as he bowled poor lines and lengths.

Mumbai, who opted to field first, didn't have a great outing with the ball and the major reason behind that was Shardul. The all-rounder, who took the new ball, was taken for runs right from the start and he couldn't turn around things with the ball and came under pressure.

Shardul Thakur registered the figures of 1/69, which was the joint worst in the history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Shardul Thakur registered the figures of 1/69, which was the joint worst in the history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He now shares the record with Ramesh Rahul of Arunachal Pradesh, who gave away 69 runs against Haryana a few days ago in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25.

Shardul Thakur, although he picked the wicket of Sanju Samson early on but after that, failed to restrict the run flow. Kerala's Salman Nazir remained unbeaten at 99 while Rohan Kunnummal (87) played a vital hand, too, as they posted a massive total of 235 runs on the board.

Thakur since the last few years, has been struggling to get going and has been dropped from the Indian team set-up as well

Shardul Thakur had an economy rate of over 17, which speaks a lot about his struggles. The fast bowler, since the last few years, has been struggling to get going and has been dropped from the Indian team set-up as well has been under par with the ball in the Indian Premier League.

Playing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024, he played nine games and picked up five wickets at an average of 61.80. His poor struggles with the ball saw him getting unsold in the IPL auction as no team bid for him and it was a massive setback for the pacer.

Shardul Thakur also was dropped from the Indian Test team. He wasn't picked in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 as ahead of him team went with young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a valiant contribution for the team with bat and ball.

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