It’s not easy being a fast bowler trying to break into the Indian team these days the competition is intense. With many skilful and experienced pacers in the set-up, where does Shardul Thakur fit in?

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar sidelined with injuries, Thakur will team up with the returning Jasprit Bumrah and Navdeep Saini for the series against Sri Lanka and Australia this month. “I feel the ball is coming out of my hand really well. Whatever matches I play in, this is my mantra: ‘bowl hard, bowl fast’. You have to get ahead of the opponents, what they are thinking or not thinking and in what frame of mind the batsman has come out to bat,” said Thakur before leaving to join the India team.

A T20 game can change in a couple of overs, so India can ill- afford to take Sri Lanka lightly. But the real test for India’s bowlers will be against Australia. Thakur is looking up to the challenge. “It is an ideal opportunity for all of us to show our A game because the stronger the opponent, the more you will get tested. I look at it as an opportunity.

The Mumbai bowler’s ability to handle his nerves shines through in the high-pressure white-ball format. It proved vital in India’s final international of 2019, against West Indies, where he played a cameo to power the team home in Cuttack.

It is this quality that endears him to his captains, impressing MS Dhoni first and now Virat Kohli. They have more effective bowlers at their disposal but Thakur’s captains are aware that when the fight reaches the trenches, Thakur will be up for it.

Thakur made his first-class debut in 2012 and continued to toil without reward till Dhoni and Stephen Fleming took him under their wings at Rising Pune Supergiant . His success in the IPL brought him focus, and though it has been a stop-start career since due to injuries, he has played in all three formats .

“In 2017 IPL, when I was transferred from Kings XI to RPS, that was an important break for me. Before that I hadn’t played much with the white ball. When in the 2018 auction I went to CSK, I was very happy because we had the same support staff, Dhoni bhai was also around. I knew how our coach Stephen Fleming works, how Mahi bhai works. When you establish a rapport, it gets easier for the player.

“Whenever I play, both give me a free hand. They come and ask what my plan is for the opponent.‘What are you thinking? How are you going to tackle the batsmen?’ They just helped me with better answers. If you are thinking about yorkers, they will talk it out: whether to bowl stump yorkers or wide yorkers. They give you that clarity.”