"Paaji, aap se hi to seekhe hai!" - Shardul Thakur's response to Indian legend Virender Sehwag's praise for his blazing knock vs RCB in IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Shardul Thakur thanked legendary Indian opener Virender Sehwag for lauding him for his fiery innings on Thursday, April 6. Thakur smashed a stunning 68 off just 29 balls against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Eden Gardens.

The all-rounder walked out to bat when KKR were in deep trouble at 89/5 and managed to stitch up an incredible partnership of 103 runs with Rinku Singh (46 off 33). Sehwag lauded the duo for their counterattack under pressure and tweeted:

"Lord Shardul .. Lord Rinku .. Zabardast clean hitting #RCBvKKR"

In a video posted on the IPL's official Twitter handle, Shardul Thakur came to know about this tweet from his teammate and explosive opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Thakur thanked Virender Sehwag for his kind words and said:

"Paaji, aap se hi to seekhe hai! Aap to Guru ho clean hitting ke. Aapse accha kaun maarta hai fast bowler ko. Hum bhi dekh dekh ke hi seekhe hai (Sir, we have learned how to hit the ball from you only. Who else did such clean hitting against the fast bowlers? We have learned it from seeing you play.)"

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Shardul Thakur on dealing with pressure situations

KKR seemed to be in danger of being bowled out when Shardul Thakur walked out to bat. However, the all-rounder explained how their training sessions have helped him deliver under pressure.

Thakur credited the team management for the drills they made the players go through. He believes these made them mentally tougher and also instilled a fearless brand of playing the game. On this, the right-hander stated:

"If we look at the scorecard, it might look like we were going through a pressure situation but we have practiced for situation like these. And that is why I could perform the way I did after five quick wickets had fallen early.

"The help we get from the team management and the practice that goes behind the scenes aids such an innings."

Thakur's whirlwind innings helped KKR post a mammoth 204/7 on the board on Thursday after losing the toss. It eventually proved to be just too much for RCB as they crumbled to 123 all out and lost by 81 runs to hand the Knight Riders their first win of IPL 2023.