Dharavi Is Full Of Talent, Says Simran Shaikh, India's Rs 1.9-Crore Cricket Rockstar

13th March 2025, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. It's the 15th over in the Gujarat Giants innings, chasing a tall target of 213 set by the Mumbai Indians, to determine who will play Delhi Capitals in the 2025 Women's Premier League (WPL) final. Natalie Sciver-Brunt, the world's best white-ball cricket all-rounder, is bowling to Gujarat's Simran Shaikh who has come in to bat at #8 with GG in trouble at 114/6.

But it's not just the Gujarat Giant fans praying for a miracle. In the heart of Mumbai itself, in the slums of Dharavi, watching with bated breath, is Simran's family and hundreds of her friends and well-wishers - could this be the 23 year old Dharavikar's time to shine?

Over the next six balls, Simran Shaikh thumps Sciver-Brunt for two 4s and a glorious 6, lighting up the lives of her fan-dom in Dharavi and beyond. A few balls later, she's dismissed after a quickfire 17 off just 8 balls.

For India, Mumbai, Dharavi - Simran Rocks

She couldn't do enough to beat the Mumbai Indians that day, but by any yardstick we may choose, Simran Shaikh is rockstar already - of women's cricket in India, of Mumbai, and most importantly, of Dharavi, India's biggest slum, where she was born and brought up.

 Yes indeed, we must celebrate Simran Shaikh and her incredible story. This daughter of an electrician, who learnt her cricket playing gully cricket in Dharavi, has beaten incredible odds to finally rub shoulders with the world's best cricketers.

In December 2024, Simran grabbed headlines when she was picked for a massive 1.9 crore rupees by Gujarat Giants in the WPL mini-auction, the most expensive uncapped Indian player at the auction. "At the start I was just hoping that some team would pick me. But then the amount crossed Rs 1 crore, and was in shock, I was speechless. Suddenly all my hard work got recognised," Simran told NDTV.

From A 10x16 Ft Room To Rs 1.9 Crore

Just consider the odds - Simran is the third of seven children, living and growing up in a family of eleven, that had just 10x16 foot room to manage in. Like lakhs of Dharavi's other residents, she too had no proper access to tap water, to sanitation, to reasonable healthcare or education, or any kind of public spaces. Surrounded by toxic levels of pollution, with almost nothing by way of waste management - in this most poorly served part of Mumbai, like many other gutsy Dharavikars, Simran found a way to just succeed, but to super-achieve.

Speaking to NDTV, Simran says she was never conscious of the odds stacked against her as a slum-dweller. All she knew was that she loved cricket, a game that involved hitting a ball as hard as she could. She was focused on just one hurdle - getting the boys to let her play. She recollects, "As a kid, I would keep asking the boys to let me play cricket with them. They said I would get hurt, but I kept pestering them, till they agreed."

Simran Has Cricket In Her Genes

Cricket was in her genes as well. Simran's father Zahid Ali Shaikh was a talented bowler when he was young. In the 1990s he was popular in the tennis ball cricket circuit well beyond Dharavi. But he regrets that he wasn't able to take his talent to the next level.

"Our family was poor. When people talk about having to skip meals due to shortage of money, that's the story of our family too. I had to start working to support the family, so I gave up my love of cricket," Zahid recalls.

But when Simran started to shatter windows and rattle the metal grills in Dharavi's gullies, and earned the respect of boys much older than her on the cricket field, her parents decided to fully support her. "Simran was out playing cricket all the time. When complaints started coming about Simran breaking things with her big hits, that's when I realised she had unusual talent," says Javed.

"Can A Girl Play Cricket?" How Simran Silenced Her Critics

There was other pressure too, recalls Akhtari Bano, Simran's mother. "For a girl to play cricket in our community is not common. People said unpleasant things about Simran. They questioned our parenting. But my husband and I, and her brothers and sisters, we simply wanted to fulfil Simran's dreams. She wanted to play cricket, and it was our responsibility to help her."

But Simran had a few people who supported her as well. Her talent was first spotted by her teacher Pushpa at the RC Mahim school. "Pushpa Ma'am suggested that we let Simran focus on cricket. She said Simran did not enjoy studies, but she could really be a great sportsperson," says Simran's mother. Simran gave up studies after Class 10, and focused entirely on cricket.

Finances were another hurdle, but here too people stepped up to help. "This sports shop owner saw that I needed another 1,500 rupees to buy Simran a cricket kit. He just gave me the kit for the amount that I had," recalls Zahid.

The story of Simran's family is similar to that of lakhs of Dharavi's residents. Her grandfather Tayyab Ali landed in Bombay in 1965, in search of work, from Uttar Predesh's Gonda district. He did odd jobs to make a living for himself and his family in Dharavi. Zahid too, had to struggle to make ends meet.

The Many Simran Shaikhs of Dharavi

Today, a full 60 years later, the family's fortunes have finally turned, riding on Simran's unusual cricketing talent. But here are some questions that we must ask - Should it take 60 years for a family to succeed? Why should poverty, or living in a slum put them at such a severe disadvantage? Is it fair that it has taken three generations for Simran Shaikh's family to improve their lot in life?   

From Dharavi to the WPL, Simran's journey is unique. But the gullies of Dharavi are full of talent. From business to manufacturing to music, dance, cricket, and even academics - Dharavikars have excelled in every field. In fact, the slums of Mumbai, and the thousands of slums across India's cities, can give us many Simran Shaikhs. But are we doing enough to support them?

Crores of India's slum-dwellers are equal partners and equal stake-holders in the nation's progress. But more often than not, they don't get the services, the civic amenities, or the attention that is their due. Surely, it is food for thought, for us all.

Dharavi Is Telling Us - 'Apna Time Aa Gaya'

Today the media has turned up at Simran Shaikh's home in Dharavi, and for the proverbial 15 minutes, the 'untapped talent' of Dharavi is celebrated. But what's needed is for this attention, and this support, to be institutionalised.

When we asked Simran what she planned to do with her 1.9 crore rupees, she simply said, "Buy a bigger house. For years the family has wanted a bigger house." Simran is aware that she is path-breaker, and hopes she will be the first among many more cricketers to emerge from Dharavi. "I want to tell other girls from Dharavi that they can achieve big things. They must follow their dreams, and it will happen."

Simran Shaikh and her talent, and indeed the unusual talent of lakhs of India's underprivileged fellow citizens cannot go ignored. We must listen, as Simran says to us all - Apna Time Aa Gaya!