Ranji Trophy: Mumbai’s seven-star show against Himachal Pradesh!

Therss no stopping Shams Mulani on a wearing track The 28yearold leftarm spinner picked up his third fivewicket haul in four matches this Ranji Trophy seasonMulanirsquos second innings bag of 537 the 19th fivewicket haul of his career helped Mumbai to an innings and 120run victory against Himachal Pradesh in just three days on MondayMumbairsquos Musheer Khan during his 223 against HP on MondayWith seven points including a bonus Mumbai moved to the top position with 17 points after four rounds in Elite Group D at the MCABKC groundHP skittled out twiceThe Himachal lower order put up some resistance to delay their first innings closure but could not avoid the followon All out for 187 and trailing Mumbai by 259 Mumbai made 446 in their first innings Himachal were skittled for 139 as the hosts registered their second win of the seasonFirsttime Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur reflected on the teamrsquos performances so far and insisted that he is determined to complete this season on a high ldquoAfter Mondayrsquos result we could easily have been sitting on 20 points But in the second game there were weather interruptions and it was incomplete Irsquom happy with where we are positioned right now We backed ourselves to get six points but to get seven points was phenomenal From here we just need to keep playing good cricketrdquo said Thakur who picked up a wicket each with the shining ball in both inningsShardul ThakurWhile players like batsman Siddhesh Lad and allrounder Mulani consistently bail the team out of tense situations Thakur preferred a proactive approach He said ldquoEveryone in the side has the potential to be a crisis man but Irsquod be happier if we called them matchwinners I donrsquot want to see my team in a crisis Yes therersquoll be tough situations but in those situations if everyone puts their heads down and just does whatrsquos needed wersquoll emerge victoriousrdquoDescribing his captaincy style the 34yearold said ldquoI look at the game slightly differently Whether itrsquos going to be a successful one I donrsquot know What I expect from my teammates is lsquoletrsquos be open to different ideasrsquordquoThakur and his new ball partner Tushar Deshpande struck very early in the Himachal second innings similar to the first essay and in the same order Captain Ankush Bains edged Deshpande behind while Sidhant Purohit was trapped in front by Thakur in the second and third overs respectivelyA 47run stand ensued for the third wicket between lefthanders Pukhraj Mann and Ankit Kalsi before the everreliable Mulani picked up the first of his five wickets It was only a matter of when Himachal would fold uplsquoMulani will get his duersquoThakur was banking on Mulanirsquos experience to deliver for the team this season On Mulani who has picked up 24 wickets this season Thakur said ldquoShams has experience and we are banking on this The kind of performances Shams is putting in he will get his due India selection India is a big country only 15 can play for IndiaAnd we have hundreds of good players in the country So Shams will get his due at some point He just needs to be patientrdquo19No of fivewicket hauls by Shams Mulani in firstclass cricketBrief scoresMumbai 446 all out beat HP 187 all out amp 139 all out P Mann 65 S Mulani 537 M Khan 223 by an innings and 120 runs