India's bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur had a base price of Rs 2 crore and was picked up by Delhi Capitals for Rs 10.75 crore. Punjab and Delhi had quite an intense bidding war for Shardul.
For Shardul, it was Punjab and Gujarat who started off the bidding process with Delhi joining in around the time the numbers doubled for him. Gujarat and Delhi continued to test each other, with Punjab also making their presence felt as well.
Chennai joined the mix with the value above Rs 6 crore and had Delhi trying to outbid them. Punjab weren't far behind either. Soon enough, the bids crossed Rs 10 crore as CSK dropped off and left Delhi and Punjab to battle it out.
Eventually, Punjab was beaten to the signature by Delhi.
Much like Deepak Chahar, another bowling all-rounder who has been mentored at Chennai Super Kings by MS Dhoni was Shardul Thakur.
Lord Thakur as he is popularly known among fans, has, in recent seasons and years, made picking important wickets a happy habit. Be it for India or CSK, Thakur has pretty much answered the call of the skipper more often than not. A turning point in his career came at the 2019 IPL final. He was on strike when CSK needed 2 runs from the last ball. Shardul missed a yorker from Lasith Malinga and got out LBW which led to Mumbai Indians winning the title by a run.
In IPL 2021, he finished as the fourth highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps, his best season with the ball since 2018 when he picked 16 wickets. Overall, in 61 games, Thakur has picked 67 wickets.
Thakur is currently a crucial part of the Indian team and has been in-form for the Men in Blue, who are led by Rohit Sharma in the white-ball games.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)