Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are taking giant strides in IPL 2025 with powerful performances. Though their batters are to be lauded for their results, the effort the bowlers are putting in must also be acknowledged - premier seamer Shardul Thakur thinks so.

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Thakur remained unsold at the mega auction late last year but was roped in as Mohsin Khan’s replacement at the LSG, returning with 11 wickets from six contested matches thus far – the second-best.   

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Meanwhile, with how runs are flowing for fun this season, there is no place for the bowlers to hide, and what is worse? The commentators are taking a jibe at them for being unable to restrict the batters from going gaga over hitting boundaries.    

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Against Gujarat Titans (GT) in LSG’s last home game on Saturday, Thakur conceded 34 runs from four overs but picked up two wickets. After the game, he addressed the criticism the bowlers are facing, arguing the commentators are being too harsh on them without knowing how T20 cricket is shaping up in the batter’s favour and that hitting 200 or more in an inning is now becoming a norm. 

"I’ve always believed that, as a bowling unit, we’ve bowled well throughout the season. A lot of times in commentary, there’s criticism — they try to be hard on the bowlers.  

“But you have to understand that cricket is moving in a certain direction where 200+ scores are becoming more common. And like you said, criticism will always be there — especially from commentators," Thakur said in the post-match presser in Lucknow.  

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He said it’s easier for anyone to sit inside a studio and comment on someone’s bowling, instead, they must realise what the bowlers go through out there in the middle.  

"It’s easy to sit in a studio and comment on someone’s bowling, but they don’t see the real picture out there on the ground. I’m sure they should look at their own stats before criticising anyone," he added. 

Proud of the bowling unit 

Despite not having any overseas seamer, LSG defended two totals this time, and Thakur is proud of the bowling unit for this. A win over Gujarat Titans at home saw LSG climb to the third spot on the points table with four victories in six matches. 

“Credit to us that we’ve defended scores on two occasions when we batted first. We put up a good score, the pitch became better for batting, and even with drastic changes, we managed to defend — one game by 10 runs, one by four runs in Kolkata.  

“So, it was about holding our nerve till the end and believing in ourselves that we could win the game, provided we got an important wicket or bowled a key over,” he added. 

(With inputs from agencies)