"It definitely helped me gain experience" - Shams Mulani on rubbing shoulders with Indian Test players
Mumbai left-arm spinner Shams Mulani was a part of the Rest of India team that won the Irani Trophy against Saurashtra by a mammoth margin of 175 runs in October last year.
It was a well-deserved step up for Mulani, who had been putting in consistent performances for Mumbai in domestic cricket. He got to rub shoulders with some domestic stalwarts, including the likes of Mayank Agarwal & Hanuma Vihari, who have also played Test cricket for India.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Shams Mulani opened up on his experience of sharing the dressing room with other star players in the domestic circuit. He also spoke about taking tips from fellow left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar, who returned with sensational figures of 10/108 in the game. He said:
"There's left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar who has played a lot for India A and Rest of India and has also been with the Indian team. I have spoken to him about his mindset and how he bowls on pitches that don't offer much help for the spinners. It definitely helps me gain experience."
Mulani further added:
"Whenever I share dressing rooms with players who have played at the level that I want to reach, I just try to feed off their energy. Those who have played at the higher levels have a different mindset than that of domestic players. I just try to learn as much as possible from their game and look to add more to mine with the experience."
Shams Mulani also had a decent game, contributing with a combined 33 runs and five wickets in the win for the Rest of India.
Shams Mulani has been in great form for Mumbai
Shams Mulani has continued his red-hot form in domestic cricket with 19 wickets from just four games for Mumbai in the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy. Although they lost their latest game against Uttar Pradesh (UP), Mumbai were on top of their group with three outright wins.
Here's what Mulani had to say on what has worked for him to have hit the purple patch:
"I am just focusing on the process that I have followed for the last two years and looking to continue doing what has given me success. A lot of work goes into the bowling off the field and that has helped me a lot."
Mulani also feels that being pushed to try something different in difficult situations has helped him grow as a bowler. He added:
"I am bowling really well and I feel that just the experience of having been in different situations and the need to adapt to them has helped me get better. There's no one way of picking wickets and some scenarios helped me find different ways of making an impact."
Shams Mulani showcased his batting ability under pressure once again with scores of 57 & 63 against UP. Mulani's rearguard effort with the bat and his leadership helped the domestic giants fight till the very end, losing agonizingly by two wickets as UP chased the target of 195.