Shardul Thakur has come to terms with the "big setback" of missing the T20 World Cup cut but the Mumbai medium-pace bowling all-rounder is focussed on doing well in upcoming games as he still has a "lot of cricket" left in him.
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Thakur did play the T20 format for India during the time Hardik Pandya was doing his long and intense rehabilitation program but a poor economy rate of 9.15 has basically pushed him out of the national team radar.
"Of course, it's a big setback. Every player dreams to play in the World Cup, not just play but win it as well," Thakur said on the eve of the second ODI against South Africa.
"It's okay I'm not selected this time. But there's still a lot of cricket left and also there's the ODI World Cup next year. My focus will be to do well in whatever matches I play and make winning contributions," the Mumbai man, who is just two short of completing 100 international wickets across formats, said.
India suffered another big blow to their T20 World Cup campaign when injury-prone Deepak Chahar, who was in the reserves, was ruled out of the ongoing series with his chances to go to Australia seeming remote.
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"Injuries are part and parcel of the game, at some point, someone is going to get injured. We should not take it by heart honestly. There is a lot more cricket to come," he said.
Asked if he fancies his chances, the 30-year-old said: "If injuries happen then anyone can come at any point of time. As of now, your responsibility is to be ready whenever and wherever you're asked to play. I will be mentally ready if I'm given a call-up. That's all in my hands."
