Rohit Sharma helped me feel comfortable, play freely in early career: Shardul Thakur

All-rounder Shardul Thakur will play for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026 after he was traded from Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the auction. Thakur revealed that the franchise’s former skipper Rohit Sharma has played a key role in his career.

The Mumbai player said Rohit made him feel comfortable and helped him play freely in the early part of his career. Rohit is known to get the best out of his players as a leader and led Mumbai Indians to five titles in the IPL.

Furthermore, Thakur has played under Rohit’s tutelage while playing for Mumbai in the domestic circuit.

“He (Rohit Sharma) made me comfortable, he allowed me to be free with him, he allowed me to express myself. We became comfortable with each other and he played a major part in it,” Shardul said on Mumbai Indians website.

“I was lucky enough to experience the dressing room early in my days. I was already feeling comfortable in front of senior players. Somewhere down the line, whatever the way I was treated during Mumbai Indians camp also, that small gesture from the Mumbai Indians helped me a lot to grow in my career,” he added.

Meanwhile, Thakur’s relationship with MI goes a long way back as he bowled in practice games, interacted with senior players, and gained invaluable confidence after he joined the franchise as a support bowler in 2010.

“I was already feeling comfortable in front of senior players. That small gesture from Mumbai Indians helped me a lot to grow,” he said.

Thakur has moved to Mumbai Indians for his base price of INR 2 crore. 

MI retained players before IPL 2026 auction: Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Sherfane Rutherford (traded from Gujarat Titans), Mayank Markande (traded from Kolkata Knight Riders), Shardul Thakur (traded from Lucknow Super Giants)