"Was a bad day": Shardul Thakur recalls IPL auction nightmare after becoming purple cap holder

Shardul Thakur, on Thursday (March 27), opened up on getting unsold in the IPL mega auction and the reason behind his decision to join Lucknow Super Giants for the ongoing IPL 2025.

While he is one of the most sought-after allrounders in India, he could not attract a single bid in the mega auction. After the snub, Shardul Thakur had enjoyed a brilliant season in domestic cricket before he decided to play county cricket. The Mumbai star penned down a deal with Essex before he got an offer from Lucknow Super Giants.

Even though Shardul Thakur had already signed up for Essex, he decided to join the LSG camp. The Lucknow-based outfit signed him as an injury replacement for Mohsin Khan and he has justified the call so far.

In the first game of the season, he made an instant impact with the ball. Opening the bowling, Shardul Thakur dismissed Jake Fraser-McGurk and Abishek Porel in the very first over. And on Thursday, he impressed once again with the ball against the high-flying Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

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Thakur was the pick of the LSG bowlers, taking 4 wickets for 34 runs in his 4 overs. He gave LSG a flying start by dismissing Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan on successive deliveries in the third over. He then picked up the crucial wicket of Abhinav Manohar in the 17th over before sending back Mohammed Shami as well.

Speaking at the end of the innings, Shardul Thakur admitted that not getting picked in the auction made him disappointed. He further disclosed that the presence of Zaheer Khan in the LSG backroom staff played a key role in his decision to accept the offer from LSG.

"I feel all these things happen in cricket. It was a bad day for me in the auction. LSG was the one who approached me first due to the injuries to their bowlers, so it was always on the cards. I had to accept it with Zaheer Khan around. You have to go through such things (ups and downs) in cricket," said Shardul Thakur.

SRH have been scoring heavily on flat pitches: Shardul Thakur

Speaking further, Thakur stated that he focuses more on delivering match-winning performances rather than on runs and wickets. He also talked about his mindset while facing the in-form SRH batters, saying that he wanted to go hard at them.

"Winning in the game is important for me. I don't look at the wickets or runs column. I want to create an impact and a match winning performance.

"They are coming hard at bowlers so why not go hard at them? The plan was to collectively go hard at them. We thought if we get early wickets, we'd do well because they have been going heavy from the start on flat pitches," said Thakur.