Essex sign Mumbai and India allrounder Thakur for seven-game County Championship stint

India allrounder Shardul Thakur has signed to play for Essex in the opening block of County Championship games. Thakur, 33, will be available for seven fixtures during April and May this year.

The stint will be a first in county cricket for Thakur, who went unsold in November’s IPL auction. For India, he has taken more than 100 wickets across all three formats, with his last appearance coming on the 2023-24 tour of South Africa.

He has been in good form domestically, scoring more than 400 runs to go with 34 wickets at 21.67 to help take Mumbai into the semi-finals of the ongoing Ranji Trophy. India went with Nitish Kumar Reddy as their allrounder during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and while he aced the batting challenge, his bowling lacked penetration. A good stint with Essex could put Thakur back into the Test mix, with India due to visit England for a five-match series in June-July.

“I am feeling excited to join Essex this summer,” Thakur said. “Personally, it brings new challenges and opportunities to showcase my talent and skills. County cricket is something I always wanted to experience and I am glad that I’ll be representing the Eagles.”

Thakur is the latest India international to play County Championship cricket at Chelmsford in recent times, following in the footsteps of Umesh Yadav, Murali Vijay and India’s current head coach, Gautam Gambhir.

The allrounder will line up alongside fellow overseas bowler Simon Harmer, with Essex looking to make a strong start in pursuit of a first Championship title since 2019 when they take on the reigning champions, Surrey, at home in the opening round.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to get the signing of Shardul over the line,” Chris Silverwood, Essex’s returning director of cricket, said. “We were very clear amongst ourselves that a high-quality quick bowler, with lower-order batting ability, was a key target for the club this winter.

“In Shardul, we have signed just that, and we can’t wait to welcome him to Essex and see how he gets on in the County Championship.”

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