The emerging Madhya Pradesh (MP) team’s 10-day Mumbai tour ended with a surprise element. After they had several new experiences, playing at Azad Maidan, Cross Maidan and a few other city grounds, coach Chandrakant Pandit capped it off by throwing in a local train journey from Churchgate to Andheri last Friday evening and it turned out to be an ‘eye-opener’ for the boys.

Chambal-based MP U-23 wicketkeeper-batter Saksham Purohit revealed that coach Pandit told them just half-an-hour before about their journey from Churchgate to Andheri in a Vasai fast local. “It was such a tough and very different experience to travel in the Mumbai local and that too in evening rush hour. Though we didn’t carry our kitbags, we struggled and somehow managed to get out at Andheri because there was hardly any space to move,” Purohit told mid-day over the phone from Indore on Monday.