My positivity And Confidence Will Help India Win T20 World Cup, Says Shardul Thakur

While the T20 World Cup is still more than eight months away, India fast-bowler Shardul Thakur has already set his sight on the marquee event. The right-arm pacer has been getting chances on a consistent basis in recent times and has made a mark with his all round skills.

Not only with his fast-bowling, the Mumbai star has also proved his worth with the bat, showing that he can hit some big blows towards the end of the innings. In the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, he picked up eight wickets. In the fourth game of the series, Shardul Thakur had defended six runs in the final over when New Zealand had seven wickets in hand. The match ended in a tie and India had gone on to win the super over.

The 28-year old is brimming with confidence after his recent outings in T20Is and is confident he would help India win the T20 World Cup this year.

“Certainly I have my eyes on World Cup. The positivity that I bring into the game and the amount of confidence I have, the way I am passionate about the game will help the team to win the World Cup or at least do the job fairly,” Shardul Thakur told reporters in Mumbai.

For the time being, he is looking to gain momentum by playing in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Shardul Thakur will be plying his trade for Chennai Super Kings. A good display in the league will further bolster his chance of making it to the T20 World Cup.

“Definitely, the IPL is important and the momentum we gain from the IPL will be crucial going forward. There is the Sri Lanka T20s coming up and we are going to Zimbabwe after IPL. Then we are playing Asia Cup going into T20 World Cup.

“So whatever momentum we gain from IPL will be important and will be crucial going ahead. We just need to carry (it) forward in the tournaments after IPL,” Shardul Thakur said.

He also spoke about his batting. The fast-bowler has shown that he is more than a handy lower-order batsman. But while the cricket world came to knew about his talent recently, Thakur said he was always confident about his ability with the bat.

“I always believed that I could bat and make useful contributions for the team. Whenever I played for my school, college or domestic team, the role never changes. If I am playing international cricket, my role remains the same.

“Whenever I am batting at 9/8/7, I can get an opportunity, I have to just go out there, read the situation, play accordingly and score as many runs I can,” Shardul Thakur said.