Rohit Sharma, a captain of an emotional India, on Friday recalled his journey from standing outside the Wankhed Stadium as a young player to catch a glimpse of the Mumbai Ranji Trophy stars, which was a stand named after him at the prestigious site, called it a “unrealistic spirit”. The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had recently announced the naming of a stand after India’s testing and with OD skipper Rohit along with former captain Ajit Wedkar and former BCCI president and ICC president Sharad Power. After being declared as the brand ambassador of the third edition of the T20 Mumbai League, Rohit said, “No one dreams of such things when they are starting to play cricket.”
Then he made a journey on time, remembering being a wire -filled budding player, remembering remembering that to see the stars of Vesterirs.
“I still remember those days when I stood outside the Wankhed Stadium to enter and see the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team practice, I am talking about 2004 or perhaps 2003.
He said, “We used to complete our U-14, U-16 training in Azad Maidan. With some of my friends, they used to travel on the railway track and just got a glimpse of some Ranji Trophy cricketers,” he said.
Rohit continued, “I know how difficult it was to return inside the Wankhed Stadium. Still, still, obviously, no random (people) will be allowed inside the stadium … but they were days.” At Wankhede Stadium, Diveka Pavilion level 3 will be named after Rohit, who led India to win the title in the T20 World Cup 2024 and the Champions Trophy 2025.
“Now, to sit back and think that there is going to be a stadium stand in my name, this is such an unrealistic feeling. It’s something that I have never thought about and I will always be grateful for this great respect in my life,” he said.
“As I said, when you start playing the game, you don’t know how long you are going to play the game, alone all these milestones and achievements you receive.
“But to get such an honor, your name has a stand name, something that I cannot imagine. Once I see my name at the stand there, it will be a very emotional moment for me,” he said.
He said, “To not enter the stadium and now to have a stand – a lot has happened between those two moments – these two moments. So, I am grateful forever,” he said.
Rohit said that while players from all parts of the country are professional, Mumbai cricket culture, history and heritage makes it different.
“If you see the Indian team in the 1970s and 80s, there were eight or nine cricketers representing India from Mumbai. It is just due to pure talent,” he said.
“Every cricketer in India is quite professional. I can’t make any comparison between Mumbai and outside cricketers, but I can only say that Mumbai cricket has such rich culture, heritage and history.
“When you are growing up, to be a part of Mumbai cricket, you know that you are in something that is not so easy, so you should be better in your best, give everything better that you have because there is no easy way to reach there,” he said.
Rohit said that “this is not everyone’s tea” to play in the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, playing his dominance, which he won 42 times.
“It is not everyone’s tea to represent and represent Mumbai. When I (was) was chosen for Mumbai (and) (and) I first entered the dressing room, my legs were shaking.
He said, “There were many cricketers like Amol Mujumdar, Wasim Jafar, Nilesh Kulkarni, Sarej, Ramesh Power … All these people were sitting there,” he said.
“I was looking around (thinking) where should I sit? Will I find a place or not? We were looking at all these cricketers. Suddenly, if you look at yourself with them, you are always very nervous feeling, you don’t know what to do and how to react.” But Rohit said that senior professionals welcomed him to the dressing room.
“I remember some people were a little older for me. They took me in, they made me comfortable. It is just because these people had an aura, which was an achievement that they had Mumbai cricket.
He said, “Mumbai have won 42 titles. I think the next is the best of 7 or 8, if I am not wrong. So you can see the difference,” he said. PTI DDV Anag
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