Playing Both Shardul Thakur And Deepak Chahar Will Be An Advantage - Zaheer Khan
Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan mentioned that bowling all-rounders, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar, can be extremely useful with the bat and can be played together in the ODI format.
Thakur scored a fifty and contributed with a cameo in the first two ODIs against South Africa. Similarly, Chahar smashed a 31-ball 50 in the third ODI that brought India back from the dead before eventually losing the game.
If India can find a way to play them both, it will be advantageous, as per Zaheer.
“Whenever he (Deepak Chahar) got the opportunity, he has performed. He batted with brilliant strike rate as well (in the final ODI).“
“There was a time during his innings when we needed run-a-ball, the way he ran doubles at a consistent rate deserves appreciation. He played according to the situation in the game. He had planned his innings. And we’ve seen this before as well,” Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
“Can Ravindra Jadeja bat at No.6?” – Zaheer Khan
Having two bowling all-rounders could be useful but regular all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja, might have to step up and play at No.6 for India in order to provide the balance. His form with the bat has improved tremendously in all three formats as well.
“It’s a big positive. It’s not as if he has done this only once. He has done it again. Even if we talk about Shardul, he deserves appreciation as well. Shardul has also batted efficiently. There could also be an option of both playing together. If it happens, it will be an added advantage because right now, we’re looking at sixth bowling option.“
“When Ravindra Jadeja returns, can he bat at number 6? Considering that, if we play both together, it will benefit India and we can go forward thinking about this. In the future when we play many big series, I think you can play both together in the playing XI and think about using them both because both have played efficiently,” Zaheer added.