Here's what happened when the Team India pacer boarded the local train from Andheri Station.
Mumbai cricketers are often called 'khadoos'. While the literal meaning of this word might be rude or snobbish, in cricketing parlance it means someone who is tough and won't give up easily.
Perhaps, it is this very khadoos attitude that's the reason behind Mumbai's unmatched success in domestic cricket. Having won the Ranji Trophy a record 41 times, Mumbai's dominance needs no further explanation.
While this relentlessness in Mumbai cricketers can be attributed to several factors, one of them has to be the intense grind a player has to go through to represent the state team.
A budding cricketer in Mumbai faces unparalleled competition. Right from the under-13 age group, a player needs to perform monumentally to secure his spot.
Not just the performance on the field, what also elevates the difficulty level is the back-breaking travel the 'City of Dreams' induces on an aspiring cricket. Travelling for hours just to reach the ground, climbing in to a local train with a massive kit-bag, is victory in itself.
From Sunil Gavaskar, to Sachin Tendulkar, to Rohit Sharma, stars of Indian cricket who belong to Mumbai have all commuted by the famous Mumbai local train in their initial years. Stories of Sachin catching a Churchgate-bound train from Dadar, or Rohit dropping his kit-bag from a running train are well documented.
Not surprisingly, Mumbai's latest contribution to Team India, Shardul Thakur, is no different. The 26-year-old, who has represented the Indian cricket team in three ODIs and two T20Is, has spent the better part of his playing days travelling in the Mumbai local train from Palghar. That's a good 1.5 hour journey one way.
What takes the cake in Shardul's case, though, is a heart-warming story that has emerged recently about his love-affair with the local train.
While many would imagine an Indian cricketer to switch to a swanky car soon after making it to the top, Shardul, in fact, still prefers to take the train. According to a report by The Indian Express, the fast-bowler caught a local train from Andheri station as soon as he landed back in the city from South Africa.
Shardul was part of India's triumphant ODI and T20 sides in South Africa, but he had no hesitation in heading straight to Andheri station once the players returned. "This time I boarded the train in Andheri after getting off the flight from South Africa. Straight from business class to first-class. I had my headphones on and just wanted to get home soon," he said.
Mumbai Ranji Trophy team's stand-out bowler over the past few years, Shardul still feels most comfortable travelling by local train, even though he senses people have started to recognise him.
"They say the boy who used to travel with us is now playing for India. But I could sense people in the compartment looking at me and wondering whether I really was 'Shardul Thakur'. A few college kids then Googled my picture just to be sure and then asked for a selfie. I told all of them to wait till I got off at Palghar," he said.
"Many were amazed that an India cricketer was travelling with them. Some old-timers were recalling how they’ve been seeing me in the train for years. But my feet remain very grounded. I have not received anything on a platter and worked hard for it," added Shardul.
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