After setting the IPL ablaze with a four-wicket haul in Lucknow Super Giants' five-wicket win, seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur stressed on the need for fair pitches in the competition to provide balance between bat and ball.
The 33-year-old walked away with the Player of the Match award after his figures of 4 for 34 helped restrict SRH to 190/9.
"I feel bowlers get very little on this kind of pitches," Shardul said at the post-match presentation.
"Even in the last game pre-match, I said that pitches should be prepared in such a way that the game hangs in the balance for batters and bowlers. Especially after the impact player rule, it's not fair on the bowlers if a team scores 240-250 runs."
Shardul went unsold at the auction and joined LSG only after Mohsin Khan was ruled out due to an injury.
"I had made my plans. I had signed for County Cricket if I wasn't picked for IPL. While playing Ranji, I got a call from Zaheer Khan that we are looking at you as a potential replacement, so don't switch yourself off. If we get you, we'll need you to start. That was the day I got back in the IPL zone. Ups and downs keep happening. That was a bad day when I wasn't picked in the auction."
Shardul took the wickets of Abhishek Sharma (6) and Ishan Kishan (0) in consecutive balls in his opening spell.
"Of course, some swing and what we have seen is that Travis Head and Abhishek like to take their chances, so let me take my chances as well," he said.
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