"Dhoni is one of greatest cricketers, looking to learn new things under him": Shardul Thakur

The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a South Indian derby at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Shardul will be returning to the franchise that made him a star and a team with which he won two IPL titles during his stint from 2018-21.

Speaking to ANI after the game, Shardul said, "Whenever you win a trophy, your confidence increases and it gives you an edge over other teams and players. You have a lot of confidence. We as players make an effort to continue the momentum we get from our performances. I do not have a plan of action for the IPL. Dhoni sahab is there he is one of the greatest cricketers ever in the world. I will play under him again and I have played under him before so I will try to learn a lot of things and how he gets performance out of players."

Thakur lauded spin-bowling all-rounder Tanush Kotian for his performances with both bat and ball throughout Ranji, saying that he has truly proven his capabilities as an all-rounder.

"Tanush Kotian in batting and bowling, got breakthroughs when he came out to bowl, he did not take five or six wickets every time but he claimed one or two crucial wickets throughout the season. He came at number 9 and 10 and scored over 500 runs which is brilliant. There has hardly been a season when a lower-order batter scores 500 runs. He has proved that he is an all-rounder," said Shardul.

In five Ranji matches this season, Shardul scored 255 runs in eight innings at an average of 31.87, with a century and a fifty and a best score of 109. He also took 16 wickets in the tournament. He scored a century against Tamil Nadu in the semifinal, continuing his series of fine performances in big matches, something he has also done for the Indian team in Test cricket.

Following the win, Kotian was given the 'Player of the Tournament' award. In 10 matches, he took 29 wickets at an average of 16.96 and a strike rate of 34.96, with the best figures of 5/58. With the bat as well, he contributed 502 runs at an average of 41.83, with a century and five half-centuries scored down the order. His best score was 120*.

Coming to the match, Vidarbha opted to bowl first and bundled out Mumbai for 224 in their first innings, with Shardul Thakur (75) and Prithvi Shaw (46) doing the bulk of the scoring. Yash Thakur (3/54) and Harsh Dubey (3/62) were the top bowlers.

Mumbai got a 119-run first-innings lead as Shams Mulani (3/32), Tanush Kotian (3/7) and Dhawal (3/15) bundled out Vidarbha for 105 runs with Yash Rathod (27) and Atharva Taide (23).

Mumbai's lead increased to 537 runs and century from Musheer Khan (136), fifties from Shreyas Iyer (95), Rahane (73) and Mulani (50) took Mumbai to 418 runs in their second innings. Harsh Dubey (5/144) was the pick of the bowlers for Vidarbha.

Chasing 538, Vidarbha was 223/5, but a 130-run partnership between skipper Akshay Wadkar (102) and Harsh Dubey (65) gave them a chance to fight. Tanush Kotian (4/95) was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers, Tushar Deshpande and Musheer got two wickets while Dhawal and Mulani got one as they all restricted Vidarbha to 368 runs, winning the game by 169 runs.

Musheer was the 'Player of the Match' with his century and two wickets in the second innings. (ANI)