Soon after returning from Ahmedabad in March, having played a sterling role in Mumbai qualifying for the Ranji Trophy knockouts after four years, Shams Mulani told his mother Shirin he would return to Ahmedabad and “win the only age-group championship I am yet to win”.
He was referring to the Col. C.K. Nayudu (Under-25) Trophy. And, on April 24, while many of his Ranji teammates were dazzling in the Indian Premier League, Mulani walked the talk, again in Ahmedabad.
“I just had to do it, this was my last chance to help the team win the CK Nayudu Trophy,” he said.
Having bowled a whopping 157 overs in three weeks in the Ranji Trophy en route to an enviable 29-wicket haul, Mulani was rested for the league stage of the Nayudu Trophy. As soon as he recovered and joined the squad for the knockouts, he literally carried on from where he had left off in the Ranji Trophy at the same stadium complex.
In the three knockout matches, Mulani tallied a whopping 32 wickets, at an incredible average of 12.15. His feats over the last couple of months are as huge as Cheteshwar Pujara’s in 2008-09.
Pujara had scored three triple hundreds — two in the CK Nayudu and one in the Ranji Trophy — in a month’s span. Cut to 2021-22, and Mulani has returned nine five-wicket and five 10-wicket hauls in just six games. He has contributed with the willow too at crucial junctures.
In the Ranji Trophy, despite wiping off a 164-run advantage, Mumbai was precariously placed at 208 for seven in a must-win match againt Goa. With an effective lead of 44, Mulani and Tanush Kotian added 116 runs for the eighth wicket to take the game away from Goa.
Then in the CK Nayudu quarterfinal against Karnataka, despite Mulani’s 11-wicket haul, when he walked in to bat on the last morning at the Narendra Modi Stadium ‘B’ ground, Mumbai was staring down the barrel. Chasing 244 for victory, Mumbai was 50 for six. Mulani was at it again. With Suved Parkar as ally, he stitched together an unbroken 194-run partnership to see his team home.
Having bagged the only missing age-group inter-State trophy in his cabinet, Mulani is now aiming for a bigger prize. “I just hope that I continue to perform in the same vein and contribute towards helping Mumbai end what has been a long wait for a Ranji title.” Mulani says.
If he can continue to walk the talk over the next three weeks in Bengaluru, Mumbai can very well end its six-year wait for its 42nd Ranji title.
