Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani picked up a five-wicket haul as Mumbai registered a dominating win against Himachal Pradesh by an innings and 120 runs on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match at Bandra Kurla Complex Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in Mumbai.
After scoring a mammoth 446 in their first innings, Mumbai quickly dismantled Himachal Pradesh’s batting lineup twice in two days on the dusty BKC Ground track to secure their second win of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2025-26.
Himachal Pradesh's flop show in batting
Himachal failed to get a good start as they bowled out for 187 in the first innings on a slow wicket. Pukhraj Mann was the only player to offer resistance, scoring 65 off 109 balls with nine boundaries. Lower down the order, Vaibhav Arora provided a brisk half-century (51 off 61 balls) with seven fours and four sixes, putting on 77 runs for the ninth wicket with Nikhil Gangta, who remained unbeaten on 64. However, their efforts could not prevent a huge 259-run deficit.
Forced to follow on, Himachal started poorly again. Tushar Deshpande dismissed skipper Ankush Bains for a duck, while Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur trapped Siddhant Purohit LBW for 2. At 68/4, Mulani struck twice, removing Ankit Kalsi (19) and Ekant Sen (7).
Pukhraj Mann and Nikhil Gangta tried to shift the momentum
Mann and Gangta tried to steady the innings with a 44-run stand, but Mumbai’s attack was relentless. Ayush Mhatre struck to get Mann caught by Ajinkya Rahane at slip, claiming his first wicket of the innings. Mulani then finished off the tail, picking up the remaining three wickets to complete another five-wicket haul and end the match in style.
Shardul Thakur on Shams Mulani
Mumbai skipper Thakur hoped that Mulani, who hit 69 in the first innings and claimed his 19th five-for, would get his due in terms of a call-up at a higher level.
"India has a lot of talent pool and it's really up to the selectors what they are looking at. The kind of performances Shams is putting up, he will get his due one fine day," Thakur said during an interaction after the match.
Brief scores
Mumbai: 446 beat Himachal Pradesh 187 in 65.5 overs (Nikhil Gangta 64 not out, Vaibhav Arora 51; Himanshu Singh 3/54) & 139 in 49.1 overs (Pukhraj Mann 65; Shams Mulani 5/37, Musheer Khan 2/23) by an innings and 120 runs.