Shardul Thakur's explosive 73 off 28 balls shines in Vijay Hazare Trophy after being overlooked for Australia Series

India's star cricketer Shardul Thakur showcased his explosive batting skills by scoring an unbeaten 73 runs off just 28 balls against Nagaland at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on December 31, Tuesday. Despite his impressive all-round performance in the previous edition of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Thakur was overlooked for the 2024-25 series.

In today's match captain Shardul Thakur created a storm in the lower order. He played an unbeaten innings of 73 runs with the help of 8 sixes and 2 fours in 28 balls and played a big role in taking the team's score to 403. Shardul's strike rate during this match was 260.71.

SHARDUL THAKUR SHOW IN VIJAY HAZARE......!!!!!!!!

- He scored 73 Runs in 28 balls including of 2 Fours and 8 Sixes against Nagaland im Vijay Hazare Trophy Match. pic.twitter.com/HCoqxiBz58

— CricVik (@VikasYadav66200) December 31, 2024

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya struggled in his return to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring only 1 run in his first match against Bangladesh. His bowling performance was also underwhelming, as he managed to take just 1 wicket for 33 runs in 7 overs. Following this disappointing performance, he has been dropped from Baroda's playing XI.

Baroda lost to Bangladesh by 7 wickets, resulting in Hardik's exit from the tournament after just one match. Consequently, he will miss the upcoming match against Bihar.

The Mumbai team has opted to rest some of its key players for the match against Nagaland, including captain Shreyas Iyer and T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav. Shardul Thakur has been appointed as the new captain for this match. Currently, Mumbai has won 2 out of their 4 matches and lost the other 2. In the ongoing match against Nagaland, the team is performing exceptionally well, having scored nearly 300 runs after 36 overs.

The best performance of the day came from team Punjab, which scored an impressive 306 runs in just 34 overs against Saurashtra. The remarkable innings were led by Abhishek Sharma and Prabhsimran Singh, with Sharma making 170 runs off 96 balls and Singh contributing 125 runs off 95 balls. The duo formed a stunning partnership of 298 runs for the first wicket. Although Punjab's innings faltered slightly after their dismissals, their outstanding performances bolstered the team's hopes of securing victory against Saurashtra.