Ranji Trophy: Shams Mulani opens up on Mumbai`s victory over Jammu and Kashmir

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Finally, in their third meeting, Mumbai succeeded in beating Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), by 35 runs in their Elite Group ‘D’ Ranji Trophy season-opening game in Srinagar on Saturday. The architect of Mumbai’s triumph, left-arm spinner Shams Mulani, 28, who claimed 7-46 on the final day, reckons the team had the belief that they would return home with a win.

J&K restarted their chase of 243 on Day Four on an overnight score of 21-1, but were bowled out for 207.

‘Wicket was a bit slow’

“Everyone in our team expected us to get them [J&K] all out. It was our belief that we will do it. And in such a situation, where the fast bowlers had a lot of help too, our two pacers [skipper Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande] are very good. Irfan [Umair] has just made his debut, but the other two are experienced pros. So, we had the belief that we would do it. The [black-soil] wicket was normal, it was a bit slow. I was getting a slight bite and that helped. Eventually, I got my first wicket and then it [wickets] didn’t stop,” Mulani told Sunday mid-day over the phone from Srinagar on Saturday.

Last season, the Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai team lost to J&K by five wickets at MCA’s BKC ground. Previously, in their first meeting in 2014-15, Suryakumar Yadav’s team suffered a four-wicket loss to the Parvez Rasool-led side at Wankhede Stadium.

When asked whether it is a big relief now as Mumbai have finally overcome J&K, Mulani, who also scored a fighting 91 and 41 in the game, said: “No, it’s not a relief. Shardul bhai said that we are doing this. We knew that J&K beat us in Mumbai in our last two games, but we are taking this one game at a time. And we have defeated a lot of similar oppositions. Obviously, they played very good cricket in all three matches. This time too it was a good, close match. They bowled and batted very well. But we had the belief right from this morning that we will do it and we did.”

Dogra dismissed early

Opposition captain Paras Dogra scored 144 in the first essay and looked like a big obstacle in the second innings as well while playing on 29, before Mulani dismissed him. “The turning point was Paras Dogra’s wicket in the second innings because he was playing well. He batted well in the first innings too. He was the backbone of the J&K batting line-up and the team was rallying around him. The plan [for Dogra] was that if the ball turns from the middle, given the way he plays, there is a chance of getting him out bowled or LBW. So, I was trying to create an angle to beat him,” explained Mulani, who was Mumbai’s highest wicket-taker with 44 scalps last season, but was still left out of the Rest of India squad for the recent Irani Cup match against Vidarbha. 

Mulani wants his team to focus on the next game against Chhattisgarh, starting on October 25 in Mumbai. “Consistency is key. One match is not enough. This match went well, but this is history. We have to focus on the next match and try to win. Now we have got a good start. Hopefully, we can continue this,” Mulani signed off.

Brief scores
Mumbai 386 & 181 beat J&K 325 & 207 (Q Iqbal 56, A Nabi 37*; S Mulani 7-46) by 35 runs

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