Essex Sign Shardul Thakur for County Championship matches: Indian all -rounder Shardul Thakur has tied up for Essex to play in the initial phase of the county championship. Thakur, 33, will be available for seven matches during April and May. This will be the first experience for Thakur in county cricket. He has taken more than 100 wickets in all three formats for India and last played on a 2023-24 tour of South Africa. He has performed brilliantly in domestic cricket. Playing an important role in taking Mumbai to the semi-finals in the current Ranji Trophy, he has scored more than 400 runs along with taking 34 wickets at an average of 21.67.
On this agreement with Essex’s team, Thakur said, ‘I am excited to join Essex in this summer. Personally it will bring new opportunities and challenges for me, so that I can showcase my talent and skills. I always had a desire to play county cricket and I am happy that I am going to represent this team.
In recent years, Thakur is the latest Indian player to play a county championship for Essex. Before him, Umesh Yadav, Murali Vijay and India’s current head coach Gautam Gambhir have also played here. He will play with Essex’s foreign fast bowler Simon Humor. Essex is trying to win its first championship after 2019 and will play its first match against the defending champions Surrey in the initial match.
Essex’s cricket director Chris Silverwood said, ‘We are very excited about an agreement with Shardul Thakur. Our plan was clear that we wanted a high quality fast bowler, who could also bat in the lower order.
‘We have got the same player as Shardul and we are eager to welcome him to Essex. We sincerely hope that he will perform brilliantly in the county championship.
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