India, March 28 -- Until five days back, Shardul Thakur didn't officially have an IPL contract. True, he was netting with Lucknow Super Giants and was a shoo-in to replace one of their several Indian fast bowlers in the infirmary, but he wasn't a part of the squad protocol-wise. And here we are, less than a week into IPL 2025, with the 33-year-old donning the Purple Cap.

It's been an interesting last four months for the Mumbaikar who, perhaps to his great shock and consternation, went unsold at the mega auction in Jeddah in November. After all, by the time of the auction, he boasted 94 wickets in 95 matches and was a handy all-rounder worth a few muscular runs down the order. Most importantly, while he went for runs, he had the happy kna...