Essex rope in Shardul Thakur for upcoming County season

Shardul Thakur is set to represent Essex for a brief stint in the upcoming season of the County Championship. The 33-year-old has been signed up for a seven-match deal in the initial half of the 2025-26 season. This will be Thakur's first taste of County cricket and the bowling all-rounder is elated about the challenge.

"I am feeling excited to join Essex this summer," said Thakur. "Personally it brings new challenges and opportunities to showcase my talent and skills.

"County cricket is something I always wanted to experience and I am glad that I'll be representing the Eagles."

Having made his international debut in 2017, Thakur has been in and out of India's teams across formats and hasn't played for the country since the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at Centurion in 2023. This development comes at a time when Thakur is in stellar form in India's domestic circuit for Mumbai. His bowling prowess, coupled with his ability to produce crucial knocks lower down the order, has been detrimental to Mumbai's surge to the knockouts this season.

This has been his forte across all formats for the team in domestic cricket although it is in Ranji Trophy that his all-round prowess has seen the maximum impact. It was this quality that interested Essex too, as revealed by Chris Silverwood, their Director of Cricket. Essex's team combination across formats has had the philosophy of batting depth and having aggressive all-rounders lower down the order. By design, it is a role that Thakur would relish doing.

"We were very clear amongst ourselves that a high quality quick bowler, with lower-order batting ability, was a key target for the Club this winter.

"In Shardul, we have signed just that, and we can't wait to welcome him to Essex and see how he gets on in the County Championship."