Shardul Receives Huge Gesture From Sanjiv Goenka After Beating SRH - Video

Shardul Thakur emerged as the top performer with the ball for Lucknow Super Giants as the Rishabh Pant-led side pulled off a stunning win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2025 on Thursday. Shardul took four wickets - including crucial scalps of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan - to clinch the match for his side. In a video posted by the franchise on their social media handles, team owner Sanjiv Goenka was seen sharing a heartwarming moment with Shardul following the victory. Shardul went for a handshake but Goenka bowed down to the bowler in appreciation before they hugged each other.

Meanwhile, revealed the moment he started to get back into the Indian Premier League (IPL) mindset after finding no buyers in last year's mega auction in Jeddah.

Our Chairman, Dr. Sanjiv Goenka, extends heartfelt congratulations to the team on their first win, and encourages to focus on giving the bestpic.twitter.com/9ckEd6J6MF

With a base price of Rs 2 crore, Shardul didn't see any paddle go up when his name popped up and eventually went unsold for the IPL 2025. He started preparing for his upcoming stint with Essex in the County Championship.

But his plans changed when the Lucknow Super Giants approached him first as an injury replacement. Shardul joined the LSG camp as a replacement for the injured Mohsin Khan. On December 31, Mohsin tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The seasoned all-rounder is now the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing edition of the cash-rich league, with six scalps in two games, an average of 8.83, and a similar economy rate.

He collected the purple cap after returning with figures of 4/34 in LSG's five-wicket triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad. Shardul revealed that other franchises approached him, but the first call came from LSG mentor Zaheer Khan.

"See, I feel all these things keep happening in the cricket. It was just one bad day in the auction, I didn't get picked by any of the franchises. But unfortunately, there were a few injuries here and there, and there were a few inquiries about whether I could join the camp," Thakur told the host broadcaster during the innings break after assisting LSG in restricting SRH to 190/9.

"But LSG was the one who approached me first, so I had to give them preference, and even when I was closely working with Zaheer Khan, he gave me a call. And it was always on the cards, I had to accept it.

And like I always say, skills are always there, talent is always there. It's just about the form and bad days, you have to go through it in cricket," he added.

(With ANI inputs)