Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill face mismanagement criticism from Shardul Thakur: 'Was not utilised properly'

Indian team management could not make full use of the good form of Shardul Thakur during last year's England tour, the Mumbai pace-bowling all-rounder believes. Thakur has said that the team under-bowled him and did not use him at correct junctures during the five-Test series.

In one of the most exciting Test series in recent years, India and England settled for a dramatic 2-2 draw last summer. Thakur played only two Test matches on that tour and bowled just 27 overs in three innings. He could only take a couple of wickets in the two Test matches.

Shardul: 'I was not utilised properly'

Thakur believes his usage by the team management led by head coach Gautam Gambhir and debutant captain Shubman Gill was insufficient.

“It’s very hard to comment on that. But after 2024-25 season, the kind of season I had, I think I could have played a few more games (on England tour) and literally made a difference," Thakur told reporters on Wednesday.

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“I would say it was (not just about) being under-bowled and it was (also) about being bowled in wrong phases. There was some calculation error, that I would say," the fast bowler added.

Thakur also revealed that he had not opened up about his feelings with the captain and coach.

“Usually, you don’t have a word with the captain or the coach because all the focus is on the game. Whenever you are asked to do something, all you think about is, ‘okay, now is my chance and I want to deliver for the team’. While doing that, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t happen," he said.

While he could not do much with the ball, Thakur's half-century in the Manchester Test was crucial for India to draw that match. He scored a gritty 41 off 88 balls in the match where Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar completed their centuries while batting India to a draw.

“When I played in England, I was not utilised properly in bowling. In batting, yes, it was my mistake that I played a loose shot in Leeds. But in Manchester, I batted beautifully," Thakur said.

“It was overcast, the ball was swinging, and there was (a) length where it was bouncing oddly. I survived that spell and India still put up a very, very strong total in the first innings… then the pitch became flat and then we were also able to save the game. But had I not had that innings when the second new ball (had) arrived, probably the result could have been different also. So it’s not that I have not made any contributions when I played for India last time," he added.