India’s star all-rounder Shardul Thakur has struggled with poor form due to an ankle injury during the South Africa tour, due to which he has been ruled out of both the national and domestic matches. Shardul is neither playing the ongoing Test series against England nor the Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai. He could not even be a part of the team in the matches against Kerala and Bengal. Shardul is still waiting for approval from the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Despite Mumbai’s hopes, NCA’s Return to Play (RTP) approval is not forthcoming. Mukesh Kumar and Prasidh Krishna were included in the team after Thakur was dropped from the team after Centurion’s defeat against South Africa in December 2023. Talking about Shardul Thakur, he is still waiting for approval from NCA so that he can play in the upcoming Ranji Trophy matches.

Mumbai Chief Selector gave a big statement regarding Shardul Thakur

Mumbai chief selector Raju Kulkarni was quoted by News18 as saying, “Shardul Thakur had some issues with his ankle and was advised two weeks of rest by the National Cricket Academy. He was in Bengaluru for further investigation and future action and is likely to be available for selection soon.”

He further said, “We are still Shardul Thakur But we are waiting for the Return to Play (RTP) report of NCA. We have to follow the process and as soon as the report comes, we will get the approval to select him for Ranji Trophy. As of now, we have made necessary provisions and will select it only after the report comes from NCA. We hope that we will get the RTP before the sixth round match.”

After his last appearance for Mumbai after the 2023 ODI World Cup, the right-arm pacer featured in a few Vijay Hazare Trophy matches against Saurashtra and Tripura. Recently, he was sold to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was signed for Rs 4 crore. His performance in the IPL will be very important to secure a place in Team India’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad.