 "India seamer Shardul Thakur joins Mumbai Indians from Lucknow Super Giants for a fee of Rs 2 crore. Image credit: Mumbai Indians")
Senior India pacer Shardul Thakur became the first player to be traded ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League auction, joining Mumbai Indians from Lucknow Super Giants in a cash deal on Thursday. Shortly after Thakur’s transfer from LSG, MI confirmed another trade on Thursday by signing Gujarat Titans’ West Indian all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford.
Thakur had been signed by LSG at his base price of Rs 2 crore as a replacement for pacer Mohsin Khan in March during the opening week of the 18th season, and joins the five-time champions at the same price. Rutherford too joins on a cash deal worth Rs 2.6 crore that 2022 champions Titans had acquired him for in last year’s mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Thakur had gone unsold in the mega auction, but had made an instant impact after being signed as a replacement player , starring LSG’s victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad with a haul of 4/34 – his best performance in the IPL.
The 34-year-old would go on to collect 13 wickets in 10 appearances for the Super Giants in the remainder of the 18th season, in which the Rishabh Pant-led side finished seventh in the 10-team table, missing out on the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Rutherford, on the other hand, had played 13 games last season for the Shubman Gill-led Titans, collecting 291 runs at a strike rate and average of 157.30 and 32.33 respectively. He had previously made seven appearances for Delhi Capitals in 2019 and played just three games for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2022 – managing a little over 100 runs across these two seasons.
Homecoming for the ‘Lord’
His trade to MI marks a homecoming of sorts for Thakur, who hails from the town of Palghar had trained under the tutelage of Rohit Sharma’s childhood coach Dinesh Lad. He would later train at Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park Gymkhana and would go on to represent the 42-time Ranji Trophy champions, making his First-Class debut in the 2012-13 Ranji season.
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View AllMumbai Indians will also be the seventh IPL franchise for Thakur, who has also represented Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) as well as the defunct Rising Pune Supergiants.
Thakur has over a 100 appearances in the world’s biggest T20 league since making his IPL debut in 2015, collecting 107 wickets in 105 appearances since then. He had also highlighted his utility with the bat down the order with a blazing 29-ball 68 for KKR against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2023.
Thakur, meanwhile, has not played white-ball cricket for India since the 2023 ICC World Cup group-stage game against Bangladesh in Pune, having made his last T20 appearance for the Men in Blue in February 2022.
The seamer, however, remains part of the Test setup, having recently featured in the five-match Test series in England where he played the first and fourth Tests in Leeds and Manchester respectively.