"Believe in yourself and things will fall into place, Ajinkya Rahane told me," says Aakash Tigers' Shams Mulani

Shams Mulani is a popular name in the Mumbai cricketing circuit. Shams has taken some rapid strides as he was named in India A's squad for the Deodhar Trophy in 2018 and then in India's team for the 2018 Emerging Teams Asia Cup. The all-rounder scored 160 runs from 6 innings at an average of 53.33, with his strike rate of 146.78 remaining on the higher side for most part of the tournament.

Shams started his cricket journey at the age of 5. Since then, he has never looked back and has hogged the limelight in the local cricketing circuit. He represented the Aakash Tigers in this year's T20 Mumbai League.

In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda, Shams talked about the league, his career and his goals.

''This year it was amazing because last year there were not a lot of people around but this year the league was bigger and better. It was a lot bigger and better from previous time. Playing in front of 12,000 people was a great experience for me," said Shams while talking about the second season of the T20 Mumbai League.

He also talked about his childhood and the beginning of his journey. "My dad used to play local cricket in college and he wanted me to play cricket and I had a lot of passion for the sport. I started when I was 5 years old. From Matunga Gymkhana I went to Shivaji Gymkhana and started to train under Pravin Amre Sir," he recounted. Pravin Amre played 11 Tests and 37 ODIs for India.

"When I was playing I just wanted to play at the highest level. My aim was to reach the top level, some great players have played from Mumbai and I wanted to be among the best", said Shams with a tone of determination in his voice.

"I like certain people, I like Virat Kohli’s batting, I like how Mitchell Santner bowls. I try to learn by watching them. I try to learn from them in bits and pieces. I played for India A in the Deodhar Trophy, it was great playing with the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin and Krunal Pandya. It's a great feeling because you've only watched them on television, Ashwin is a legend," said Shams while talking about his inspiration and learning.

The 22-year-old loves to discuss his cricket with his Aakash Tigers teammate Aakarshit Gomel. ''He was my roommate in Aakash Tigers and we’ve been playing since we were children, he knows my game inside out. He tells me what I’m doing wrong. He knows when to criticize me and that matters a lot, criticism matters a lot," he said.

Shams revealed that he follows the advice of Ajinkya Rahane. ''Be confident and back yourself in whatever you do, believe in yourself and things will fall into places, Ajinkya Rahane told this to me," concluded Shams.