Shardul Thakur did not hold back and has delivered a firm message to his critics, particularly those in the commentary box following his team’s six-wicket win over the Gujarat Titans. After the high-scoring contest, the Indian pacer defended his side’s efforts and called out what he felt was unfair commentary criticism directed at bowlers in the IPL. "I’ve always believed that, as a bowling unit, we’ve bowled well throughout the season. A lot of times in commentary, there’s criticism, they try to be hard on bowlers," Thakur said in the post-match press conference. He also added that 200+ scores are becoming the norm in IPL these days and has asked commentators not to be hard on bowlers. "But you have to understand that cricket is moving in a certain direction where 200+ scores are becoming more common,” he said. The Indian pacer pointed out that bowlers deserve more recognition in batting-friendly games, as adapting and delivering in these pressure situations is a testament to their skill and belief. “It’s easy to sit in a studio and comment on someone’s bowling” Shadul Thakur credited his bowlers for being able to defend targets in multiple matches in IPL 2025. “Credit to us that we’ve defended scores on two occasions when we batted first. We put up a good score, the pitch became better for batting, and even with drastic changes, we managed to defend", he said. He also pointed out how it all comes down to holding the nerve until the end and believing in themselves. "So it was about holding our nerve till the end and believing in ourselves that we could win the game, provided we got an important wicket or bowled a key over,” he added. Shardul then turned his attention to commentators who quickly judge the performances from the studio and had asked them to look at their own stats before talking about someone else. “And like you said, criticism will always be there, especially from commentators. It’s easy to sit in a studio and comment on someone’s bowling, but they don’t see the real picture out there on the ground. I’m sure they should look at their own stats before criticising anyone,” he added. Shardul Thakur, who initially went unsold in the IPL 2025 auction, came in as a replacement player for the LSG and had made an instant impact. Also Read: Pooran and Markram’s Power-Packed Fifties Seal Easy Win for LSG The pacer now has picked up 11 wickets from six matches with an economy rate of 10.38. He is the second leading wicket-taker of IPL 2025, just behind CSK's Noor Ahmad.