See Wankhede Stadium through the lens of Mumbai's bowling mentor Dhawal Kulkarni

As one of the most iconic stadiums across the globe and the heart of Mumbaikars Wankhede Stadium completes 50 years the Mumbai Cricket Association MCA organised a program for all the former and current Mumbai cricketersOne of the most loyal and hardworking sons of Mumbai cricket is Dhawal Kulkarni After drawing curtains on his international and domestic career the pacer embarks on the next innings of his career as Mumbais bowling mentorWhen asked about his core memories of Wankhede Stadium former Team India and Mumbais current bowling mentor Dhawal Kulkarni said Wankhede Stadium has always been close to my heart I made my domestic debut for Mumbai at Wankhede Stadium in 2007 and played the last game of my career in 2024 So its been a long journey has always been a part of my journey Ill always cherish the memories of playing cricket hereDhawal has also been a part of three teams in the Indian Premier League IPL and has very fond memories of Mumbais iconic stadium One of the memorable spells of my career in IPL was the spell against RCB Royal Challengers Bengaluru when I got the wickets of Dilshan Tillakaratne AB de Villiers and Virat KohliAlso ReadHow long will people talk about it Ravichandran Ashwin on playing farewell match for IndiaHaving played several matches of domestic cricket at Wankhede stadium Dhawal Kulkarni labelled the finals against Saurashtra and the last match of his career which was the finals of Ranji Trophy in 2024In the finals of the Ranji Trophy 2024 representing Mumbai Dhawal claimed three wickets by conceding just 15 runs in the first essay against Vidarbha Later in the second innings he bagged one wicket for 38 runsOver the years Dhawal has been well aware of the changes that have taken place at Wankhede Stadium Speaking about it The only change Ive witnessed at the venue has been the wickets cricket pitches It has always gotten better and better for the batsmen so there was always a challenge of bowling on those wickets At the same time there was bounce so I enjoyed bowling there said Mumbais current bowling mentorThroughout his cricketing career Dhawal Kulkarni has featured in several matches at different stadiums whether it be during the IPL or the domestic leagues Apart from Wankhede Ive enjoyed playing at the M Chinnaswamy stadium Bengaluru and the stadium in Jaipur Sawai Mansingh StadiumHaving been appointed the Mumbai teams bowling mentor after a successful domestic career Dhawal Kulkarni sees the potential in the current lot of players who can carry the legacy of the team aheadYes definitely There are guys who can surely carry the legacy of the Mumbai team ahead To name a few obviously Shreyas Iyer who has always been there playing cricket for Mumbai and the Indian team Tushar Deshpande who has done well recently Slyvester D Souza who has the potential of becoming a good fast bowlerHimanshu Singh another young offspinner Tanush Kotian who has done exceedingly well for the last couple of seasons for Mumbai Apart from these players Shardul is there who is an experienced campaigner added Mumbais bowling mentorSurya Suryakumar Yadav obviously is part of the Indian team but whenever he is available hes always there playing cricket for Mumbai Also Yashasvi Jaiswal so yes there are these guys who can definitely carry the legacy of the Mumbai team ahead concluded Dhawal KulkarniKulkarni has been part of Team India for 12 ODIs and two T20I matches In 12 ODIs he registered a tally of 19 wickets and three scalps in the shortest format of the game