Give him a ball and he will bowl tirelessly, picking up wickets by the bagful. Pad him up and send him to bat at any position and he will put a price on his wicket. These are the makings of Shams Mulani, an all-rounder par excellence for Mumbai since he made his white-ball debut in 2017-18 and red-ball appearance the following season. He could easily fit into any domestic side either as a batter or purely as a left-arm spinner.
On Sunday at the MCA-BKC ground against Himachal Pradesh, the 28-year-old made the difference between Mumbai being bowled for under 400 and posting a healthy total close to 450. He posted his second fifty of the season — 69 (122 balls, 9×4) — in nearly three hours of sound batsmanship.
Walking in at 305-6 after overnight batsman Akash Anand fell for 34, joining centurion Siddhesh Lad (127, 260b, 18×4, 1×6), the left-hander was the last to fall after Mumbai reached 446. He added 75 for the ninth wicket with Tushar Deshpande (38).
Himanshu shines with 3-26
At stumps on Day Two, the visitors were 94-7, trailing Mumbai by 352 runs, Mulani breaking the fourth-wicket partnership of 41 between Pukhraj Mann and Ekant Sen by having the latter leg before wicket. He applied pressure on the HP middle-order that helped the lanky off-spinner Himanshu Singh (3-26) to pick up three wickets.
Mumbai’s Shams Mulani during his composed 69 vs HP at the MCA-BKC ground on Sunday. Pic/Atul Kamble
Such has been Mulani’s contribution over the years. His tally of 2,467 runs in 55 first-class matches at an average 33.33, with 21 fifties and a lone century, adds to his primary skill, left-arm spin, which has fetched him 253 wickets till date, including 18 five-wicket bags and seven 10-wicket match hauls, making him a vital cog in Mumbai’s line-up.
Former India batsman and Mumbai Ranji Trophy-winning coach Pravin Amre is not surprised at Mulani’s growth. “He learnt his early lessons of bowling from the legend Padmakar Shivalkar sir at Sivaji Park. So, bowling comes naturally to him,” Amre told mid-day. Amre recalled Mulani’s ability to perform under pressure even when he was in his 14s and 15s. “That showed his temperament and his ability to perform under pressure,” added Amre, who played a role in grooming Mulani at the Sivaji Park Gymkhana Academy.
Vinayak Samant, former Mumbai wicketkeeper and coach in Mulani’s debut first-class season, told mid-day on Sunday: “Shams is a champion player, displaying the ‘khadoos’ attitude proudly and delivering in crunch situations. When we won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2018-19, he turned in key performances. Against Himachal Pradesh, he was promoted ahead of Aditya Tare and returned undefeated with 40-odd runs along with Suryakumar Yadav, who made an unbeaten century as we won chasing a 270-run target. Handling pressure has been his cup of tea and that is why he is successful. Unfortunately, he has not yet been selected even for India ‘A’ so far.”
Pravin Amre, Vinayak Samant and Siddhesh Lad
Hailing from a middle-class family and learning the tricks of the trade at the famed Shivaji Park, Mulani has been a “street-smart cricketer, a thinking cricketer,” as his teammate Siddhesh Lad described him. Lad said on Sunday, “To me, he is the crisis man of Mumbai. Whenever the team needed him, he has delivered, be it in batting or bowling. He is also a great fielder. There is great competition right now in the India set-up. But he has done everything to deserve a place in the Indian team. But, it is up to the selectors.
“He is one of the most street-smart cricketers we have in Mumbai cricket. It comes from the experience of playing club cricket. He has played a lot of club cricket, the under-19s, U-23s. He is very smart and intelligent. He thinks a lot about his game and knows exactly what to do and what not to do.”
Crucial role in title win
Mulani has been a solid batsman at No. 7 or thereabouts and bats efficiently like a top-order batsman. Two seasons ago, Mulani was a key player with the bat in Mumbai’s 42nd Ranji Trophy-winning campaign, often rescuing his side in the company of Tanush Kotian, Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande. It was a season when Mumbai’s top-order consistently failed and the lower half, often underlining the famous Mumbai ‘khadoos’ attitude that took them the entire distance.
Akash Choudhary hammers record eight consecutive sixes for fastest 50
Meghalaya’s Akash Kumar Choudhary on Sunday became the first player to hit eight sixes in a row in first-class cricket while also recording the fastest half-century in the format, off only 11 deliveries, during a Ranji Trophy Plate Group match against Arunachal Pradesh here on Sunday. Batting at No. 8, 25-year-old Choudhary achieved the stunning feat on the second day of the match at the CK Pithawala Ground.
He remained not out on 50 off 14 balls, helping Meghalaya declared their first innings at a mammoth 628-6. Choudhary broke the previous record of fastest fifty in first-class cricket, which was set by Leicestershire’s Wayne White in 12 deliveries against Essex in 2012. He also became only the third player ever to hit six sixes in a row in first-class cricket after the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers of the West Indies and India’s Ravi Shastri.
7-46
Left-arm spinner Mulani’s bowling figures in the second innings of the opening match against J&K — the best by a Mumbai bowler this season
18
No of wickets claimed by Shams Mulani in four matches in the ongoing Ranji season, along with 272 runs in five innings @ 54.40