All-Rounder or Afterthought? Shardul Thakur’s Role Casts Doubt on Gill-Gambhir’s Wisdom

ENG vs IND : India's team selection for the first Test against England at Headingley has come under the scanner after Shardul Thakur, included in the Playing XI to strike the right balance between batting and bowling, became a bystander in his comeback Test match in Leeds.

A player who has earned the tag of ‘man with the golden arm’ due to his knack of dismissing well-set batters and providing vital breakthroughs was reduced to a part-time role, dishing out only six overs in England's first innings, giving away 38 runs at an economy of 6.30.

Although Thakur's economy rate in his brief burst wasn’t something to write home about, he was not the only one who bowled horribly for India. Mohammed Siraj leaked 122 in 27 overs at 4.50 an over, and Prasidh Krishna had a horror spell, giving away 128 runs in 20 overs at 6.40 – the worst economy rate by an Indian in a Test innings (minimum 20 overs bowled in an innings). But captain Shubman Gill chose to continue with Siraj and Krishna. It seemed as if he forgot Thakur was on the field.

Thakur surely wasn’t selected as a specialist batter – his duck in the first innings reaffirmed that he is far from being a front-line batter. Most people consider him a fast-bowling all-rounder rather than a batting all-rounder, meaning his bowling talent supersedes his batting ability. The 33-year-old was included in the lineup, hoping his all-round skills would come in handy on a pitch that looked pace-bowler friendly on the first morning.

Not just those looking from the outside, even the player didn’t have any clue as to why he wasn’t being utilised by captain Shubman Gill. At one point, he, through his body language, could be seen trying to gain the young leader’s attention, but the captain looked away, preferring to persist with the same struggling pacers, Siraj and Krishna.

This tactical rigidity has cast huge questions on the planning and adaptability of India's leadership group, including head coach Gautam Gambhir. The thought process behind playing three specialist pacers in addition to Thakur was to keep pressure from both ends. But when two of them were leaking runs, not utilising Thakur, who has time and again demonstrated his ability to deliver crucial wickets, seemed baffling.

If Thakur couldn't be trusted to bowl when the others were struggling, then why was he selected in the first place? India's approach in Leeds was rigid. In a match where weather conditions are volatile and momentum shifts rapidly, a tested game-breaker such as Thakur was a tactical error to overlook. Gill and Gambhir might want to re-evaluate how they deploy their resources before the series slips away.