[Watch] “Felt a year younger” - Shardul Thakur shares cake-cutting video with loved ones at 32nd birthday amid 2023 World Cup

By James Kuanal

Modified Oct 17, 2023 14:54 IST

Team India all-rounder Shardul Thakur turned 32 on Monday, October 16. On this special occasion, he spent quality time with loved ones in Pune, which is close to his hometown of Palghar, ahead of India’s next 2023 World Cup match against Bangladesh.

The cricketer shared pictures with his wife Mittali Parulkar and his close family and friends. In a video, Thakur, who opted for a black T-shirt and cream-colored pants on his birthday, was seen cutting the cake. He captioned the Instagram post:

“Felt an year younger.”

Thakur was part of India’s three-wicket win against arch-rivals Pakistan. However, he was under-bowled in the match and finished with figures of 0/12 in his two overs as the other five bowlers wrapped up Pakistan’s innings for 191 in 42.5 overs.

The medium pacer had previously scalped one wicket against Afghanistan in Delhi, where India won by eight wickets. Thakur, however, has scalped 20 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of 6.25 this year. He is also a handy lower-order batter.

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“Give him time in the middle” – Ashish Nehra on Shardul Thakur’s place in the playing XI for the 2023 World Cup

Amid a debate over Shardul Thakur’s place in the playing XI, Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra reckoned that India should have promoted him in the high-voltage match against Pakistan.

The former India cricketer believes that Thakur could’ve been sent after Rohit Sharma’s wicket when India required 35-odd runs to win the game. He recently told Cricbuzz (10:20 onwards):

"I would go to the extent of saying that India could have sent Shardul Thakur to bat when Rohit Sharma got out as they just needed 35 runs. There has been a lot of debate about whether Shardul Thakur should play or should it be Ashwin or Shami. So, if you're playing him for batting depth, you might as well give him time in the middle."

It remains to be seen whether India will continue with the winning combination or drop Shardul Thakur for the next 2023 World Cup game against Bangladesh.