When players who played club cricket with them are seen captaining the country, fellow cricketers live those moments with them. Something similar happened with two club-level players from Mumbai. For the players who played with him in the 1990s, he remains the backbone of India’s batting even today. Yes, we are talking about Ajinkya Rahane, who started his cricket journey from the railway ground in Dombivli, and who went straight to the West Indies from his old club. And seeing him meeting old colleagues with equal intimacy, these two young men became very emotional. They will not forget this journey to Trinidad all their lives. Shantanu Kulkarni and Rahul Chordekar were both all-rounders, and Rahane’s teammates from Youngstar Cricket Club from Dombivli. On Indian soil, they could never see their old teammate in the Indian jersey. So, both of them made up their minds to go to the Caribbean island and watch him play.
Shantanu is currently in New York City, USA, for a company project. Rahul has been living in Toronto, Canada, with his family for some time. Both of them planned to watch the Test in Port of Spain, alongside meeting Rahane. It was expected that their old comrade would definitely spend some time with them. And they got more than they expected. “When we planned our tour to the West Indies, we didn’t know if we would be able to meet Ajinkya or not,” Shantanu told RevSportz from Trinidad. “Because during the Test match, the players are in their separate zone, and we had no intention of harassing them. We contacted one of our friends in Mumbai who connected us with Rahane and expressed our desire to him. Our friend told us to travel and assured us that we wouldn’t go back empty handed.”
When the two friends reached Port of Spain, Rahane had already kept match tickets in their name at the hotel reception. Not only that, after the day’s play, Rahane also spent time with his old teammates in the coffee shop. “Rahane is the same today as he was when he used to play with us,” said an emotional Chordekar. “There has been no change in his nature. He is equally humble even today. I was surprised to know that he remembered things like travelling from Dombivli to Mumbai by train 25 years ago to play matches. As if the three of us had relived that old journey once again.”
Rahane, the vice-captain of the Test side, not only spent time with his old teammates, but also gave them a bat autographed by the other players. They were also able to meet one of their idols, Rahul Dravid, the current India coach. “Dravid has been our biggest hero,” said Shantanu and Rahul excitedly. “Rahane has also been known for his own batting style. When we were retiring from the meeting, he introduced us to Dravid in the hotel lobby and took a picture. We also met Rohit Sharma, the captain. When we left the house, we did not know that we were going to get such a jackpot.”
Both his old friends wanted to know about the famous 2020-21 victory in Australia, where Rahane led in three of the four Tests, slip catches and the World Cup, as they looked back on a cricketing journey that started in 1995-96 in one of Mumbai’s far-flung suburbs. When Rahane used to play for the Rising Pune Supergiant IPL team, the players from his boyhood club came to watch him practice at the Wankhede Stadium. But that meeting lasted only a few moments.
Generally, it is very difficult to get hold of cricket players in India. In this day and age of multi-crore contracts and endorsement deals, the top players live in their own cocoon and have little connection with the clubs and friends that nurtured their dreams. But as you listen to the stories of Rahane’s hospitality, you realise that there are always exceptions.