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Shardul Thakur reminisced about Mumbai local train rides as Team India travelled by train to Leeds for the England Test series. After arriving in London, the team trained at Lord’s before moving to Kent for a camp and an intra-squad match.
Team India's bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur recalled his memories of travelling in the Mumbai local train as the visitors arrived in Leeds by train for the first Test of the five-match series against England at Headingley, starting on June 20.
The India squad, led by Shubman Gill, arrived in London for the Test series against England and had a practice session at Lord’s before heading to Kent, where they continued their training and played an Intra-squad match between India and India A at County Cricket Ground in Beckenham. KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, and Abhimanyu Easwaran were already in England for India A’s two unofficial Tests against England Lions and were linked with the main squad in Kent.
After the Intra-squad match between India and India A, the main squad boarded the train from Kent to Leeds for the Test series opener against England, while the remaining players returned home.
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Shardul Thakur’s Mumbai local memories
As Team India travelled by train from Kent to Leeds, Shardul Thakur recalled his memories of travelling on a Mumbai local during his early days of playing cricket. In a video posted by BCCI on its X handle (formerly Twitter), the 33-year-old stated that travelling in the Mumbai local is not easy as a person needs to go through a hustle to board the train, especially during peak hours.
“Of course, right now I'm enjoying a nice, comfortable window seat. But back in Mumbai, it’s not the same. You have to go through that hustle. This is definitely easy. So, yes, I'm at peace with this right now," Thakur said.
Shardul Thakur has made a comeback to Team India after a year for the five-match Test series against England. Thakur’s last appearance in the longest format of the game was in the first Test of the two-match series against South Africa at Centurion. Since then, he was off the radar of the selectors as he was not picked for the Test series against England, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Australia.
The bowling all-rounder grinded in domestic cricket and earned a recall to the India Test squad as one of the two seam bowling all-rounders alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy for the five-match Test series against England.
The new era beckons Team India
The upcoming Test series against England is the beginning of India’s new World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle after having failed to qualify for the final of the recently concluded WTC cycle, which South Africa won against Australia to clinch their maiden triumph of the tournament.
The series will also mark the beginning of a new era for Indian Test cricket as three stalwarts - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin - stepped away from red-ball cricket, and the side will be led by Shubman Gill. Rohit and Kohli retired from Test cricket before the England tour, while Ashwin called time on his international career midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in December last year.
The squad has a mix of senior and talented players, including KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan, and Arshdeep Singh, who will be keen to make their mark in the high-stakes Test series and prove that new-
