After a stunning show against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata, Shardul Thakur has become the talk of the town. He scored 68 runs off just 29 deliveries as the Kolkata Knight Riders posted 204 after 20 overs and eventually won the match by a massive margin of 81 runs.
“He (Shardul) is the Indian Russell. He seems to have taken the muscle from Russell. I have seen him bat for Mumbai, but the way he is batting now, we can say we have another (seam-bowling) all-rounder. I hope we start looking at him that way,” Bhatia told Cricbuzz.
Never ever write off a former champion like KKR: Rajat Bhatia
“Never ever write off a former champion like KKR. They needed a reaction after the loss to Punjab and in front of their home crowd and their boss (Shahrukh Khan) watching, they beat RCB comprehensively. Didn’t really see any partnership from RCB as their chase gradually fell apart,” the 43-year-old added.
“For the three years I played at KKR, we never felt that we were out of the tournament. Even in 2011 when we were knocked out by Mumbai in the qualifiers (playoffs) Shahrukh Khan called us to their house. We realized that there wasn’t going to be any pressure from the owners and that helped us become champions the year later,” Bhatia concluded.
