IPL 2021: 'It's like El Classico': Shardul Thakur on MI-CSK contest

Shardul Thakur exhibited his fervor about the 'El Classico' of the IPL, the fight between chief adversaries Mumbai Indians, and the Chennai Super Kings.

The table-toppers Chennai Super Kings began the Delhi leg of the competition with a splendid triumph against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the interim, the Mumbai Indians bobbed back with a success against the Rajasthan Royals after continuous losses at Chepauk.

Shardul Thakur accepts this is an absolute necessity watch game and is sure that the entire of India will be stuck to their TVs on Saturday night.
"I think everyone knows. It's like El Classico, what you call Barcelona and Real Madrid. So, it's that quality game. Top cities, I mean, Chennai and Mumbai...so all the people in India, in fact, the whole of India would be cheering for both the teams. I think you would have an equal number of fans. So, there's again a lot of competition amongst themselves as well. I think it is the top game to be watched on the TV right now," said the CSK speedster.

Shardul Thakur added that the fight will be extreme and glanced back at a portion of the nerve-wracking games between the different sides in the earlier versions of the IPL.
"It is going to be intense. We have seen that Mumbai-Chennai games...a game is not over until a team wins the game. We have seen so many comebacks, so many good bowling performances, so many batting performances. Overall, it's going to be very intense."

"Dressing room environment was brilliant even when we didn't qualify last year" -Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur also spoke about how the CSK side stayed together during IPL 2020 in spite of their inability to meet all requirements for the end-of-the-season games. He added that the team's environment has stayed positive this year too.

"CSK environment has always been good. Last year, we didn't qualify. A lot of people said that CSK has lost the form but the dressing room environment was brilliant through the tournament. Everyone stuck together, we all used to have the meals together and that has been the significance of our dressing room. Even this year, it's nothing different. It's the same," he said.