Since the start of 2022, Mumbai slow left-armer Shams Mulani has 140 wickets across all domestic first-class matches in India. That is the most among bowlers to have bowled at least 500 overs during this period, and it has come at the third-best strike rate.
A third of those wickets came from only six games in the truncated Ranji Trophy season of 2021-22, which started in February 2022 and had a second phase in June. Mulani received the Madhavrao Scindia Award for being the leading wicket-taker that season.
Before that bumper tournament, where he averaged 16.75, Mulani's ten first-class games since his debut in 2018-19 had brought him 28 wickets at 34.46. But since then, he has averaged a little over half that in all first-class cricket.
What brought about that turnaround?
Fitness has been key, Mulani says ahead of Mumbai's final group-stage Ranji fixture this year, against Assam. "For three years, I have been working very closely with Vishal Chitrakar, the strength and conditioning [S&C] coach for Mumbai. And I got a lot of help from the S&C coaches during IPL too."
He realised he needed to work to get his body accustomed to the demands of big seasons with plenty of matches. "Especially since I try my best not to miss even a single game," he says. "And because it's a long season, it's pretty difficult to maintain your performance for the entire season.
"But Vishal knows my body well - like how long I take to recover, and the programmes that work for me. We had decided that if I wanted to climb up the ladder, then I had to change something. Vishal has been really helpful in bringing those changes.
"Other coaches, like Deepak Parteki [who also works at the National Cricket Academy], have been helpful too. They have been with me for a couple of years now."
Before his breakout 2022, Mulani had bowled 30 or more overs only twice in 15 innings. But during that Ranji season of 2021-22, he delivered more than 30 overs three times in 11 innings. That included a marathon 63.2 overs in the first innings of the Ranji final that season. Twenty-six of those overs were bowled in a spell that ran over the second evening and the third day.
"I used to feel fatigued by the second innings until the season after my debut," Mulani says. "I realised I had to stress on the recovery of my body because that is very crucial in a four-day game. If you have bowled a lot in the first innings and want to repeat that effort in the second, by which time the body has become sore, then you need to give yourself adequate time for training and strength sessions in between games.
"That is something I have worked a lot on with the help of our physio, trainer and masseur. I do some rehab whenever I get some time. That helps me bowl long spells and recover to bowl more. Earlier I didn't have a lot of idea about these things."
Mulani takes pride in how he has ground his way through first-class cricket, and likes bowling long spells. He says he wants to be prepared for any opportunity that comes his way, and to rise in his career with exposure.
"Playing and experiencing domestic cricket is really important for me. I believe that the competition that exists in the Indian domestic circuit cannot be found anywhere else," he says. "There is also the assumption people have that pitches here always have turn for the spinners, and so they bag a lot of wickets. But there are some pitches which aren't helpful, and where you have to just keep bowling to extract something from them. So bowling those long spells - sometimes even 30 or 40 overs in an innings - is really crucial for me."
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Former Mumbai batter Amol Muzumdar took over as the team's coach in June 2021. The two years for which he served in that role were key for Mulani - mainly for how he instilled a sense of confidence that Mulani had lacked till then.
"My first season with Amol sir, when he noticed a few things about my bowling, was very helpful," he says. "There were some technical suggestions too [from Muzumdar], but it was the changes he made to my mindset that made the most difference. For instance, he told me that if I was to become a better bowler, I simply had to try to be on top of the batters by being more attacking.
"I used to get a lot of confidence just by talking to him. He always wanted me to get the batters out through my skill - like bowling well even on flat tracks, rather than just through help from the pitch. Amol sir was the only one who said I just had to do better. He said I had to be dominant in first-class cricket."
Muzumdar's advice and exhortation resulted in Mulani delivering what he says is his most memorable performance in the last two years, against Goa in Ahmedabad in a group-stage game in February 2022. Mumbai were bowled out for 163 after batting first, and Goa doubled that score. Mulani took 6 for 107 in the second innings, but he rates his fourth-innings performance higher, when Mumbai were defending 231 and had to bowl Goa out in "hardly about 60 overs on the final day" to win. He took 5 for 60, to complete a career-best match haul.
"It stands out," Mulani says of that five-for. "It will always remain special. Looking at the situation, we did really well as a bowling unit to hit back, and I was able to contribute."
Another significant influence on his career has been that of former India and Mumbai batter Pravin Amre, who was a mentor to him. Mulani says Amre worked on his batting during his early days, and those inputs have paid off: in 37 first-class innings since 2021-22, he has hit eight half-centuries and been part of some crucial partnerships to rescue his sides.
Before bowling in the last innings in that game against Goa, Mulani added 116 for the eighth wicket with Tanush Kotian. Mumbai were only 44 ahead when they came together, but when Mulani was out for 50, they led by 160. That apart, Mulani has been part of five century stands. In fact, he is one of only two players to have scored at least 800 runs and taken at least 80 wickets in all domestic first-class games in India since 2021-22.
"I had a pretty long association with Amre sir," Mulani says. "I had been practising under him at Shivaji Park Gymkhana ever since I was nine. He has informed me a lot of things about the game, including how to be mentally ready.
"With the cricket season getting longer, I don't get as much time [to spend with Amre]."
As an allrounder who bowls left-arm spin and bats around No. 7, Mulani almost predictably idolises Ravindra Jadeja, whose achievements with ball and bat - and in the field - he says he is in awe of. "Looking at the way he does everything - I hope to be even 10% of what he is," Mulani says. "It will be very good if I end up achieving even that much. I would love to replicate his stature and his contributions to Indian cricket.
"But if you specifically ask me about bowling only, then I really enjoy watching [R] Ashwin bhai and Nathan Lyon. What stands out about them, respectively, is their variations and control. Whenever there is a Test on TV featuring them, I watch it and learn - like what they are doing, how they are varying pace, the lengths they are bowling, and the fields they have."
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Success with his domestic team got Mulani selected for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy ahead of the 2022-23 season. He produced the goods there too, despite the step up, smashing 97 in quick time in a drawn game against North East Zone, taking West to victory with an all-round show against Central Zone in the semi-final, and four wickets in the second innings of the final against South Zone to give West the title.
A year later he represented Rest of India against Saurashtra in the Irani Cup, taking five wickets and scoring valuable runs as Rest won by 175 runs. Earlier this month came his India A debut, in the third unofficial Test against England Lions in Ahmedabad, where too he left an impression, with 5 for 60 in the second innings in a comfortable win for the home side.
"When I got my jersey for India A, I couldn't understand what was going on in my mind," Mulani says, pointing out that the uniform is quite similar to that of the national side. "It sank in after a while - it was India A, and not just a state team. It was the second-best line-up in the whole of India."
Talk about taking the next step, representing India, and Mulani is in no rush, though he will turn 27 next month. He is happy to take it one step at a time.
Ashwin and Jadeja, India's lead spinners in Tests, have some gas in their tanks still, and over the last few years, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have squeezed in when allowed and performed well. That leaves little room for Mulani to make a case for himself - not least because he is a like-for-like player to Axar.
He isn't looking too far ahead just yet. "My job is to only perform. I will not have a role in selection," he says. "I don't keep wondering whether I will ever get a call or not; that is needless stress for me. I know that I will be in the limelight if I keep performing well, and that opportunities [to play for India] will come knocking soon."