Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
At the end of the second day’s play, Siddhesh Lad, the OG in terms of being the ‘crisis man’ in the Mumbai team, passed on the moniker to Shams Mulani. Lad scored 127 off 260 balls in the ongoing Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh, as the hosts posted 446 in their first innings. But Mulani’s performance provided another opportunity to double down on a pertinent question — what more does he need to do to at least get into the India A side?
The spin-bowling all-rounder from Mumbai was overlooked for the ‘A’ team series against Australia in September. He was also not considered for India A for the multi-day fixtures against South Africa A. “I think there’s great competition right now in the India (A) set-up,” Lad told reporters. “But I feel, he (Mulani) has done everything he can to deserve a place in India (A) side. But the rest is up to the selectors.”
On Sunday at the MCA Ground here in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mulani scored 69 off 122 balls to take Mumbai to a position from where they can think about inflicting an innings defeat on Himachal. Then, he bowled 11 overs of his left-arm spin and gave away just 12 runs for the wicket of Ekant Sen. At stumps on Day 2, the visitors were reeling at 94/7. Off-spinner Himanshu Singh bowled well to take 3/26 from eight overs, but Mulani was resplendent in his all-round contributions.
Batting at No. 8, his lowest score this season is 32. His highest, 91. This was his second half-century in four matches. He has already taken 18 wickets, including a couple of five-fors. A street-smart cricketer who learned the game at Shivaji Park, Mulani revels under pressure.
“I feel it comes from the experience of playing club cricket,” said Lad. “He has played a lot of club cricket, U-19s and U-23s, and he has grown up from there. And I think he is very smart, very intelligent. When he bowls, you know, he bowls with a (clear) mindset. Whenever the team needs him, in all departments, if you see, batting, bowling, and he is a great fielder also.”
How many runs must Mulani score in domestic cricket and how many wickets must he take before he impresses the national selectors? The answer at this moment is blowin’ in the wind.
Brief scores: Mumbai 446 (Siddhesh Lad 127, Shams Mulani 69; Mayank Dagar 4/111) vs Himachal Pradesh 94/7 (Pukhraj Mann 34; Himanshu Singh 3/26, Tushar Deshpande 2/21)
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