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Shardul Thakur Set The Tone For LSG Early On: Mitchell Marsh
The pacer finished with figures of 4/34 against a powerful SRH batting unit
Having come into the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) side as a replacement for Mohsin Khan, Shardul Thakur has already made giant waves in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 and sits at the top of the leading wicket-takers list in the tournament. His recent exploits include figures of 4/34 against a powerful Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting unit in Hyderabad, keeping them down to just 190.
The pacer picked up the wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan in back-to-back deliveries, which put SRH on the back foot
Mitchell Marsh, who slammed his second fifty in the tournament in as many matches, lavished praise on the pacer. Despite the best efforts from Travis Head (47), Nithsh Kumar Reddy (32), and Aniket Verma (36), the Pat Cummins-led side could not breach the 200-run mark.
"I thought Shardul bowled exceptionally well and set the tone for us early on. Against batsmen like Abhishek and Travis Head, you're under pressure right away, but Shardul used his experience to great effect," March said at the post-match press conference.
He bowled particularly well towards the end. Overall, it was a solid all-round performance, and it's great to start the tournament with a win."
While many were left surprised with LSG putting SRH into bat after winning the toss, Marsh reckons it eventually comes down to playing well across the 40 overs, regardless of which way the toss goes.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s a bold call to put SRH into bat. No matter who you’re playing against, you’ve got to play 40 overs of good cricket to win IPL games,” Marsh, who scored 52 off 31, said.
“I’m really proud of the way the bowling unit stepped up tonight,” Marsh said.
LSG came into this game after a heart-breaking one-wicket loss agianst Delhi Capitals (DC) in Visakhapatnam in a high-scoring fixture. LSG are now off the mark with a five-wicket win over SRH. Marsh believes that it is always about sticking to your guns regardless of the results.
“It was about focusing on what we’re good at and how we want to go about it. I think we stuck to our guns really well. No need for us to get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “There’s no easy game in the IPL. Every team has a great list. To knock these guys off will hopefully give us a lot of confidence,” the Aussie all-rounder said.
LG will look to add to their victory when they take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 1 in Lucknow.