Shubman Gill, Gautam Gambhir attacked by Virat Kohli's close aide over 'Shardul Thakur' move in Leeds Test

Former India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who recently mentored the Virat Kohli-starrer RCB to IPL 2025 triumph, has come down hard on the duo of Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir.

Dinesh Karthik lashed out at the India Test skipper and head coach for the poor treatment of the pace-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur in the ongoing first Test match of the series against the England National Cricket Team.

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Shardul Thakur bowls just 6 overs

In their first innings with the ball, Team India bowled 100.4 overs and allowed the hosts to score at a run rate of 4.61. And out of those many overs, Shardul Thakur bowled just six, which came as a big surprise to everyone.

India are playing three frontline seamers - Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammed Siraj - a spin-bowling all-rounder - Ravindra Jadeja - and a pace-bowling all-rounder - Shardul Thakur - in the ongoing Test at Headingley in Leeds.

Thakur pipped Nitish Kumar Reddy for a spot in Team India playing XI, mainly because of his bowling capabilities and the performance in the intra-squad match.

However, Thakur, who has a knack of picking wickets out of nowhere, wasn't utilised well by skipper Shubman Gill in the first innings. He was introduced in the attack very late in the innings and wasn't given opportunities to bowl consistently.

The all-rounder unfortunately leaked 38 runs in the six overs he bowled, and Shubman Gill didn't show any more trust in him and stuck with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Ravindra Jadeja.

I feel bad for Shardul Thakur - Dinesh Karthik

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik questioned Shubman Gill's lack of trust in Shardul Thakur and bashed him for the under-utilization of the all-rounder with the ball. Dinesh Karthik said:

"The Shardul Thakur decision that Team India's management needs to look at - If they are not going to trust his bowling, why are they playing him? That is definitely an issue. If you are not going to trust a bowler, why have you played him? I understand when you play four fast bowlers, you are not going to give equal opportunity for Shardul."

"When he did bowl, he did not bowl very nicely, but to give six overs when you have bowled so much is not a great picture. I feel bad for Shardul but I can understand what a Shubman is thinking. He is able to create more pressure on England when the other bowlers are bowling."

He removed his sweater and was about to bowl, but Shubman Gill... - Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik also highlighted an incident from Day 3 where Shubman Gill disrespected Shardul Thakur with his act just before the tea break.

He pinpointed how Shardul Thakur removed his sweater and was about to bowl, but Gill suddenly stopped him and handed the ball to Jasprit Bumrah instead. Dinesh Karthik said:

"There was a very interesting incident, last over before tea, Shubman Gill brought Shardul Thakur to bowl. He removed his sweater and was about to bowl, but Gill saw Bumrah was okay to bowl. He (Gill) then told Shardul to please wait, I'll give it to Bumrah.

"And as Bumrah does, came in, bowled the one over and got the wicket of Chris Woakes. So, you can't fault Gill because he looks at Bumrah as that generational fast bowler and his go-to man. When I need anything, it is Bumrah first and everybody else later."

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