MUMBAI: On the morning of Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy final against Vidarbha at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai's dressing room was overwhelmed with emotions, with veteran pacer Dhawal Kulkarni suddenly getting an opportunity to play his 96th and final First-Class match after Mohit Avasthi was ruled out due to injury.
Having bowled for more than a decade with Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur shared the new ball for the second-last time at this level with the 35-yearold on Sunday. Thakur recalled how the veteran pacer, whom he grew up watching, had helped him buy new shoes when the 'Palghar Express' had no money to purchase them.
"It (playing his last FC game) was (an) extremely emotional moment for him and me also, because I have watched him since childhood. He has helped me also at times with my bowling. When I did not have money to buy the shoes, he gave me a few pairs of shoes also. So, he has helped me a lot," Thakur told reporters on Sunday.
The day was brightened up by Thakur's quickfire 75-run knock off 69 balls, which rescued Mumbai after they were in a spot of bother at 111 for six and 176 for eight. Thakur revealed that it was his daily experience of travelling for hours every day from Palghar to south Mumbai as a budding cricketer that had infused in him the steel to fight fire with fire when the chips are down.
"I love to play in tough situations, tough conditions. The kind of life that I have lived travelling far from Palghar all the way to Mumbai with the kit bag in train. You know it was not easy. So, I think that has toughened me up. And whenever I face a tough situation, challenging situation, it's no different. I just use that mindset that I had as a kid growing up," he said.
The 32-year-old said that a useful advice from noted local coach Vilas Godbole, before the semifinals against Tamil Nadu at BKC, to reduce the distance between his legs while taking stance had helped him improve his batting by a few notches.
