Mumbai began their quest for Ranji Trophy title No. 42 with a thumping win over Bihar under a stand-in skipper when Ajinkya Rahane was indisposed for the opener at Patna in January.
Now, that temporary skipper—Shams Mulani—is at hand to guide Mumbai to a triumph that has eluded them since 2015-16.
Left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Mulani, 26, who has claimed 31 scalps and scored 290 runs in eight games, indicated that the players cannot wait for the ‘play’ signal against two-time champs Vidarbha at Wankhede on Sunday. “
As a team, we are very eager and our basic goal is to lift the Ranji Trophy. I have played with Hardik [Tamore], Prasad [Pawar] and [Jay] Bista in all age groups and lifted a lot of trophies. The hard work we’ve put in through the season is paying off. One more game to go… it’s not over till it’s over,” Mulani told mid-day.
Mulani will be playing his second Ranji Trophy final; the first being the June 2022 finale which Mumbai lost to Madhya Pradesh at Bangalore. “This is my second final in the last three years. We have some idea of playing in a final, so it’s just another game.
We’ve got players who have either played the last final or were part of Mumbai’s earlier Ranji Trophy-winning team. We are experienced. We’re not going to do anything extraordinary. We just want to perform well day by day and hopefully lift the trophy,” Mulani explained.
When asked about his individual performance, Mulani said: “It’s very satisfactory, because we played in different conditions. I played for India ‘A’ as well. I’m happy to have taken around 40 wickets. I’m happy with my batting as well, scoring 50s and 30s when it mattered. I’m happy, but not fully satisfied.