After going unsold in the IPL auction, pacer Shardul Thakur has returned to dominate the opening week of the current season. With six wickets in the first two matches for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Thakur now has the purple cap.

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan put it aptly. "Luck works for him because he works hard for his skills in domestic cricket," Pathan posted. Another former India player, Mohammad Kaif, posted: "Unsold at auction but purple cap after two games. 4 wickets against the most dominant side on a good batting pitch. Swing at start, variations at death... Can't keep him out of game."

Thakur, an IPL expert, had not been picked from the auction. But then came the lucky break when LSG were a bowler short going into the season after left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan suffered an injury. LSG secured Thakur from the Registered Available Player Pool at his reserve price of Rs 2 crore.

His signing was made official on March 23, and a day later, he bagged 2/19 against Delhi Capitals. On March 27, he claimed 4/34, restricting a free-scoring SRH to 190/9. His fourth wicket of Mohammed Shami was his 100th in the IPL, a feat achieved across 10 seasons with five franchises.

"I had made my plans. I had signed for County Cricket if I wasn't picked for IPL. While playing Ranji, I got a call from Zaheer Khan that we are looking at you as a potential replacement, so don't switch yourself off. If we get you, we'll need you to start. That was the day I got back in the IPL zone. Ups and downs keep happening. That was a bad day when I wasn't picked in the auction," Thakur said after his player-of-the-match performance in a 5-wicket win over Sunrisers in Hyderabad.

The hard-hitting duo of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan were among his victims, and Shardul didn't sound modest about his performance. "Of course, some swing and what we have seen is that Travis Head and Abhishek like to take their chances, so let me take my chances as well."

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