Third Front: Shardul 'ready to step up' in Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah's absence

Shardul ThakurShardul Thakur knows that opportunities in a settled limited overs lineup wont come easily and thats the reason he is ready to step up in an unenvious role of Indias stopgap third seamer in absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah Thakurs four wicket haul was instrumental in India restricting Sri Lanka to a moderate 152 and he deservingly got the manofthematch award after his teams sixwicket win in the third round robin match of the Nidahas T20 Tri SeriesAsked about the challenge of being a backup pacer the Mumbai speedster repliedI have told one thing before I love challenges I am taking it as a challenge If other senior bowlers are missing from the team then I have to step up I have done this previously for other teams that I have played for I have come in place of Zaheer Khan Dhawal Kulkarni and Ajit Agarkar while playing for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy I had to step up in that role When senior bowlers are rested I have to step up and fill that role to lead the pace attack Thakur exuded a lot of confidenceThe knuckle ball a variation of slower delivery is being used as a variation by a lot of Indian bowlers currently including pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar However it was Zaheer who had first started but Thakur insisted that he had learnt it all by his own Zaheer did it actually but I didnt watch much of his videos Thakur said I always knew what the grip was and then I learned it on my own I have been practising it for a long time It didnt come easily Whenever I found time to play with white ball while playing domestic cricket I used to try knuckle ball Probably for two years I have been practising it nowThakur said getting Upul Tharanga Vijay Shankar dismissed him and Thisara Perera quickly enabled them to cut down on atleast 20 runs The way they Lanka were going they would have scored at least 165 to 170 but we got Upul Tharanga out when he was coming hard at us Thisara then came in and hit a few boundaries So I think those crucial 23 wickets kept coming and we were probably able to cut down the total by 1520 runs Thakur saidThe bowler was happy that the bowlers have come back well after getting hit in the opening game In T20 cricket you need to be ready for surprises The first game was a surprise and an eye opener for us I was hit for 27 runs and also some overs went for above 15 runs I feel the game against Bangladesh and in this game we came back strongly and executed our plans wellCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever