In the Ranji Trophy closing, Mumbai are eyeing their forty second title. They are dealing with Vidarbha and are in a robust place. The closing can also be an emotional one for the Mumbai crew as on of their veterans Dhawal Kulkarni will retire on the finish of the season. It was on the insistence of the crew, Kulkarni delay his retirement until the tip of the season. Shardul Thakur, who can also be enjoying for Mumbai within the Ranji Trophy closing revealed how Kulkarni helped him in his early days of battle.

“It (playing his last FC game) was (an) extremely emotional moment for him and me also, because I have watched him since childhood. He has helped me also at times with my bowling. When I did not have money to buy the shoes, he gave me a few pairs of shoes also. So, he has helped me a lot,” Thakur advised reporters on Sunday.

“I love to play in tough situations, tough conditions. The kind of life that I have lived travelling far from Palghar all the way to Mumbai with the kit bag in train. You know it was not easy. So, I think that has toughened me up. And whenever I face a tough situation, challenging situation, it’s no different. I just use that mindset that I had as a kid growing up,” he mentioned.

Meanwhile, Senior left-arm spinner Shams Mulani feels that Mumbai crew can not afford to be complacent regardless of having an total lead of 260 runs after two days within the Rnji Trophy closing in opposition to Vidarbha.

Mumbai produced an all-round present on the second day on the Wankhede Stadium to take full command, bowling out Vidarbha for a mere 105 within the first innings to earn a giant 119-run lead.

In their second innings, Mumbai had been jolted twice early on however skipper Ajinkya Rahane (58 not out) and Musheer Khan (51 not out) led a resolute fightback with an unbeaten 107-run stand for the third wicket to take second innings rating to 141/2.

“Three days are left (in the game). We have not thought about anything else other than batting. Yes, we have got a healthy lead but we will look to build on it and see how we can improve and take the game away from them as much as possible,” Mulani advised the media after stumps.

“Right now, we feel that we need to bat. There’s no target in mind because we are just thinking that it’s just 141. We are not thinking of the lead as of now. It’s just 141 for two and we will bat along — the game is still a long way to go,” he added.

Mulani mentioned Rahane’s well timed unbeaten fifty was value celebrating like a century for the Mumbai dressing room.

“We celebrated like it was a hundred because we knew how important this small milestone for him is. For the team, for himself, in this situation, it was very important that he stays on the wicket,” Mulani said.

The domination for Mumbai was, however, set up by veteran Dhawal Kulkarni, who snaffled two key wickets on first day evening and bowled a measly spell of 11-5-15-3 while adding one more dismissal to his kitty.

Mulani said to see former India medium pacer Kulkarni excelling in his final game of his career was “emotional”.

“It was emotional second for all of us. For him, clearly it was very emotional. But coming the best way he did —he did not play the final 4 video games however it did not really feel like he has not performed,” Mulani said.

With PTI inputs