Ranjane's emotional Mumbai return brings career full circle

On August 2, 2022, Shubham Ranjane and his wife Mousam Patel arrived in Seattle with two suitcases. The couple had no clue what they were dipping their feet into once Ranjane, the former Mumbai allrounder, had decided to take up the offer to move to the USA to play MLC.

"We didn't know what was going to happen. What was I doing? Was the decision to move going to work or not?" Ranjane recounts of his decision to move four years ago. Ranjane saw "new opportunities" in the MLC offer because of the presence of IPL owners investing in the US-based league which started in 2023, and is now three seasons old. Ranjane never imagined that his decision to shift to the land of opportunities would in a few years lead to another life-changing decision: on Saturday the 31-year-old from Pune is set to play in a World Cup when he turns out for USA in their opening match against defending champions India.

Should Ranjane play against India, it will be doubly emotional considering it was Mumbai that he had shifted to more than a decade back to seek bigger cricket opportunities with the ultimate ambition to scale the ladder and play for India.

Ranjane smiled when he found out Mumbai would be the venue for USA's opening game against India. "When we came to know that USA is going to play against India in the World Cup, I got goosebumps. I was nervous," he says. "Also, once the fixtures were announced, and when I heard about that game happening at Wankhede, it's a nostalgic feeling."

It was watching his father Subash, who played for Maharashtra, in a Ranji Trophy match that Ranjane grew fond of cricket. Subash, a tall, strapping fast bowler had followed his dad Vasant, who the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Chandu Borde acknowledged was among the best medium pacers they had played in first-class cricket. Ranjane's cricketing journey started at 11 playing age-group cricket for Maharashtra before he decided to shift to Mumbai around the mid-2010s.

Ranjane worked with former India fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla at the DY Patil team in club cricket and made his name as an allrounder. In 2016-17 season, he finally made his Mumbai debut, which was unremarkable, except he was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah who claimed a six-for as Gujarat won the match. "Playing for Mumbai was nearly like representing India," he says.

But Mumbai's deep batting line-up, which included India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav along with Ajinkya Rahane, Aditya Tare, Abhishek Nayar, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, did not allow Ranjane enough opportunities to bat up the order. Immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic eased, Ranjane opted to move to Goa, but he soon realised the quality of the cricket there was sub-par as compared to Mumbai.

"It was not that I was not getting playing opportunities for Mumbai. But during that time the team was packed and in my role of being a middle-order allrounder, I felt I wasn't able to showcase that talent or ability. So, then I felt you have to take the decision wisely for yourself."

"Wankhede has a special place in my heart. When you enter that is a historic stadium and see people screaming, it will be fun"Ranjane on returning to his former home ground

Restless and itching to continue pursuing his cricketing dream, Ranjane landed in the USA. When Ranjane left India, he did not tell his parents he was moving away full time. He just informed them he was going there to play cricket for a few months, just like he had been doing when traveling for a few months to Liverpool to play club cricket when he was an Indian domestic player.

But about a month after moving to the US, he informed his parents that he had got the NOC from BCCI to qualify for the O-1 visa MLC had arranged for players moving from India. The parents were "emotional" and anxious as Ranjane had decided not to take up a job opportunity with Comptroller & Auditor General of India. He had also got married in May 2022.

However, Ranjane had already informed Mousam of his ambitions. "I told her I have dreamed of always playing for IPL teams consistently and I really want to play at that level. I discussed with her the offer letter and she just said 'go with your instincts.'"

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There was another close friend who was understanding and supportive of Ranjane's quest to get the opportunities, first in Goa and then in the USA. Suryakumar was Ranjane's captain at Mumbai in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy when the latter last played for the multiple-time Ranji champions.

"During SMAT during the Covid season, both of us had a chat," Ranjane says, recollecting their conversation with Suryakumar. "I told him I am not happy with the opportunity I was getting in Mumbai. I told him while I understood it was nobody's fault, I had to look after myself."

Suryakumar, Ranjane says, told him to "keep faith" adding he, too, had gone through similar periods of uncertainty. "He told me if my instinct and heart are telling you to take a new opportunity, just take it. Don't regret." Ranjane did not tell him he was moving to Goa. The lack of "intensity, professionalism" and the absence of the "culture" did not leave Ranjane finding that "inner happiness." He understood the growth path he was seeking was not there in Goa, where he played just one season.

While he is elder to Ranjane by four years, Suryakumar calls him dada because of his aggressive nature on the ground. Being aggressive in his mindset himself, Ranjane believes, Suryakumar likes such an attitude. Both were keen to explore and talk about life outside of cricket and enjoyed going places for hanging out. "Cricket was not always the topic," he says. "We would go on drives to places like Lonavala or just to Marine Drive or to places we liked to eat."

"Coming back here, playing against India, playing in the World Cup, which I dreamed from childhood. And now it's the time. So it's a dream come true moment, and I'm living in the room"Shubham Ranjane

This week Suryakumar messaged Ranjane and left a heartfelt message. "Aaaja, bhetu (come, let's meet)," Ranjane says as he recounts the exchange. "So proud of you. Leaving all the things behind, leaving your family and friends behind, but all those sacrifices you did are now proving to be worth it. The decision you took, you went there to US and prove to yourself. The dreams for which you were working hard, preparing for, both in India and then in the US, they are now coming true. That's because you had the belief in yourself. Now you need to enjoy every moment. Stay calm. Stay in the present. Things will continue to fall in the place."

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Things have started to settle for Ranjane, who lives in Houston, Texas. He earned his first Player-of-the-Match award in his second of the four ODIs, making an impact both with bat and ball. In MLC he plays for Texas Super Kings (TSK), who made the play-offs after finishing second on the points table. Ranjane was the second leading run-scorer for TSK making 268 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 160.47. In the past few seasons Ranjane has worked hard on his fitness to ensure he can give the maximum effort in all three departments and allowed him to inject power into his strokeplay.

At TSK, Ranjane has been heavily motivated by the professionalism of former South African captain Faf du Plessis. "I want to be like Faf," he says. "While we perform two different roles - him as an opener and me as a middle-order batting allrounder - I like his game awareness, the style he bats, his fielding where he covers the entire ground very easily due to his fitness. He gave me motivation. And I started spending time with him and asked him what all he had done on his journey. He told me that he gave extra time on himself to work on specific things.

"When it comes to batting, he just gave me advice. He said mentally clarity is very important and then everything is structure and then your role is defined. So Faf gave me clarity about my role and it helped a lot."

Former South African allrounder Albie Morkel, who also is the assistant coach at Johannesburg Super Kings along with TSK, helped Ranjane with power hitting and range hitting, working on holding his shape and the keeping a still head. Suryakumar had also helped Ranjane understand the importance of game awareness including how to read the bowler's plans and the field settings. Ranjane says such advice has allowed him to build on situational awareness.

It will be five years since Ranjane played at Wankhede, a place where he has some good memories having featured in all three formats for Mumbai. He is excited to walk out on Saturday to the heaving full house. "Wankhede has a special place in my heart," he says. "When you enter that is a historic stadium and see people screaming, it will be fun.

"[I'm] feeling proud though, just taking decisions [about] where you're going, starting from scratch. It's never easy. And you have some dreams for yourself. So, a dream come true moment. Coming back here, playing against India, playing in the World Cup, which I dreamed from childhood. And now it's the time. So it's a dream come true moment, and I'm living in the room."

Ranjane is proud that he was brave at different points in his career to risk security in search of his quest to play at a higher level which he felt he was capable of and deserved. As the conversation wraps up, Subash and Ranjane's mum, Smita, have arrived from Pune to meet him at the USA team hotel in Navi Mumbai. Both parents are emotional but proud of their son chased his belief. "He was always mehenti and ziddi (hardworking and stubborn)," Smita says.

Subash believes his son always had the ingredients and it was a matter of channeling all the ingredients in the pursuit of reaching the higher goal.

Ranjane listens quietly. But he is beaming with pride, too. "From childhood you have thought about this, and you have dreamt about this," he says. "Just closing your eyes and dreaming and [then] the thing coming to reality, it's really a great feeling."