Shardul Thakur after going unsold in IPL auctions, sets an unwanted record by conceding the worst bowling figures in SMAT

India all-rounder Shardul Thakur seems to be having a run of bad luck. After going unsold in the IPL mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the 33-year-old now holds the undesirable record for the worst bowling figures in the history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In a match against Kerala at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Shardul gave away 69 runs and only managed to take one wicket.

This is now the joint expensive spell bowled by any bowler in the history of the T20 competition. Just a couple of days back, Ramesh Rahul of Arunachal Pradesh had leaked the same number of runs.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

The previous record was held by Hyderabad’s Pagadala Naidu (1/67) against Mumbai in 2010. Speaking about the match between Kerala and Mumbai, the Sanju Samson-led side won the contest by 43 runs.

Kerala first posted 234/5 in the allotted twenty overs, owing to a 87-run knock by Rohan Kunnummal. Mumbai were then restricted to 191/9 and hence Kerala won the contest quite comprehensively.

Coming back to Shardul Thakur, who is currently making a comeback from an injury, had gone unsold in the recently held IPL mega auction. The premier India all-rounder did not find any takers.

Over the last three years, Shardul's performance has dipped in the IPL. For CSK, he just played nine games in 2024, picking up just five wickets at an underwhelming average of 61.80 from nine games.

Indian management moves on from Shardul Thakur

Ahead of India's departure for Australia for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, head coach Gautam Gambhir had revealed that the current management has moved on from Shardul, and hence Nitish Kumar Reddy was picked.

"The decision to pick Reddy (Nitish) ahead of Shardul is also about moving forward,” Gambhir had said.

Soon after, Shardul had emphatically stated that he has not given up on making a comeback into the Indian cricket team.

"I haven’t had any communication yet. I have just returned from surgery, so it’s obvious that’s the reason I am not in the team at the moment,” he told reporters.

"However, my fitness is in great shape now, and since the Australia tour is a long one, opportunities can come anytime. Following that, the England team is also coming to India for white-ball matches, then there’s the Champions Trophy, so there’s a lot of cricket ahead. So, there will surely be chances somewhere down the line," he added.

Shardul has so far played 11 Tests, 47 ODIs and 25 T20Is for India. He has taken 129 wickets across all formats.

With the bat in hand, he has registered 729 runs across the three formats, with his best score being 67 in a Test match.

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