As the last league stage of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024–25 gets underway, the teams who will advance to the knockout stages will be determined. Mumbai is a team that was favored going into the competition, and Shardul Thakur is a player who has been making headlines lately. Despite losing the previous encounter against Jammu and Kashmir, the 33-year-old hit an amazing century and a half.
Meghalaya, who have lost all of their tournament games thus far, will be the Mumbai team’s final opponent. Shardul Thakur gave the Mumbai team another impressive performance today, this time with the ball. With the new ball, Shardul got the Mumbai squad going and put pressure on the Meghalayan batsmen. He took four wickets early in his spell and was instrumental in getting half of the Meghalaya team out of the game early.
Shardul Thakur made history during this period as well, reaching his first hat-trick in first-class cricket in the third over after making a breakthrough in his first over. In the final three balls of the third over, Shardul became just the fifth Mumbai bowler to record a hat-trick in the Ranji Trophy after dismissing Balchander Anirudh for a three-ball duck. Middle order batsmen Sumit Kumar and Jaskirat Singh then got off the next two deliveries, respectively. In the 2023–24 season, Royston Dias became the final bowler to take a hat-trick for the team, defeating Bihar.
Speaking of the game, Meghalaya was bowled out for 86, with their innings showing little improvement at the time of writing. In this game, Shardul, Mohit Avasthi, and Sylvester Dsouza’s seam attack terrorized the Meghalaya hitters.
Shardul Thakur hopes Mumbai will qualify.
On the night before the game, Thakur stated unequivocally that the Mumbai squad has had a mixed season in the red-ball format. He also discussed the coaches’ and management’s advice to remain together as a team.
“The game can be lost in a single session; longer formats are an emotional roller coaster.” The player who saw must have taken something away from it. Respect and humility are required; I don’t take anyone or anything lightly. The captain and coach have a straightforward message for you. Thakur was cited by The Indian Express as saying, “We must remain united and play as a team.”
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