Vijay Hazare Trophy: Shams Mulani keeps big-picture frustrations aside in stellar show for Mumbai

Shams Mulani is often referred to as the ‘Crisis Man’ of Mumbai cricket. Season after season, the left-arm spinner has bailed the team out in crunch situations.

This year, too, he has been Mumbai’s leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 28 scalps, and the seasoned campaigner has followed it up with some consistent performances in white-ball cricket as well.

Despite the conditions in Jaipur not favouring the bowlers, Mulani has spearheaded Mumbai’s spin bowling department in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, claiming seven wickets in four games, including a maiden List A five-for against Chhattisgarh.

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As Mumbai looks to seal a berth in the knockouts of the tournament, with a win against Maharashtra on Saturday, Mulani believes that a ‘mix of aggressive and defensive bowling’ has been the key in the tricky conditions.

“A mix of defensive and aggressive bowling is important, because having five fielders inside (the circle) is tough for bowlers and especially on these wickets where the batters can line you up pretty nicely. Since it doesn’t spin much, the ball comes nicely on to the bat, so to outsmart the batters, you need to play with their minds and mix up the deliveries,” Mulani told  Sportstar.

Ahead of every game, Mulani makes it a point to watch the videos of the opponents, along with his colleagues Tanush Kotian and Musheer Khan. That, according to him, has helped.

“When you watch those videos, you know that there’s a particular area that a batter likes to target and you try not to bowl over there. These are the things that we discuss, and so far, it has worked,” Mulani added.

Even though he has been the most consistent performer for Mumbai, an India-A berth has eluded Mulani, but he doesn’t want to think too much about it. For him, the priority is to keep performing for Mumbai.

“For Mumbai, you have to keep performing just to make your mark and stay in the team, because it’s difficult given the amount of talent we have. If you’re not performing, then you know that, somewhere, someone will replace you and that pressure is always there for each and everyone of us,” he said, adding: “So, you need to focus on one game at a time, and that’s what I do…”

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While he knows how to cut out the noise, Mulani knows that there’s no substitute to hard work, and that’s what he does, instead of thinking about the future. “I am not thinking about anything. There’s no point thinking what will happen if I do well or I don’t do well. I’m just trying to win games for Mumbai, and want to contribute as much as I can,” he said.

“Suppose, I don’t have a good day with the bat, I try to make up for it with my bowling and fielding. So, I’m just trying to contribute to the team whenever I get an opportunity,” he added with a smile.

When he broke into the Mumbai team, back in 2018, Mulani did not know that he would go on to claim more than 300 wickets across formats, but with hard work and determination, he has managed to battle the odds and emerge as a match-winner for the domestic giant.

Published on Jan 02, 2026