India's seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur said veteran opener Rohit Sharma made him feel at ease and promoted self-expression, which he is looking forward to experiencing again at the Mumbai Indians' camp for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.

Thakur was traded by MI from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.

"Abhi aur pata chalega jab sath me baithenge toh. Kaafi masti hogi (It will be fun when we meet again). He made me comfortable, he allowed me to be free with him, and he allowed me to express myself. We became comfortable with each other, and he played a major part in it,” Thakur was quoted as saying by the MI website on Monday.

Thakur, who has represented India in 13 Tests, 47 ODIs, and 25 T20Is, said that being in the MI dressing room during the 2010 IPL gave him the professionalism he needed to succeed in his cricket career.

“I was made to play practice games. I bowled with a new ball, which boosted my morale and confidence to another level, and I was picking wickets. 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 the Mumbai Indians camp, also, that small gesture from the Mumbai Indians helped me a lot to grow in my career,” he added.

Shardul is currently playing for Mumbai in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and has credited MI Director of Cricket Rahul Sanghvi and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey for their daily guidance and inputs shaping his growth as a professional cricketer.

“I was seeing Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu… and I'm sharing the same dressing room with them. It was surreal,” he concluded.

MI, along with CSK, are the most successful franchises in IPL, with five title wins each. But MI's last IPL trophy win came in 2020, and since then, they have been on the lookout for their sixth title win.