Dhawal Kulkarni powers Mumbai
“Opportunity follows struggle. It follows effort. It follows hard work. It doesn’t come before.” It’s a post from Dhawal Kulkarni’s twitter feed. Every now and then, he would post something similar, about hard work and talent and stuff like that. It’s easy to see where all that is coming from. He has been the invisible face of Indian cricket, constantly hovering on the fringes — someday it’s for India A, another day it’s in IPL, and occasionally, news comes in of his selection to the Indian squad only to go through a tour or a series on the benches.
“Apna chance hai kya,” he would ask the Mumbai reporters every now and then about his chances for getting back into the Indian team. In between all that, he keeps turning out for Mumbai and performing.
The season hadn’t started well — he had taken only two wickets in the last three games. But on Saturday, he bagged another five-for, his 12th, and in the process brought up his 200th first-class wickets in 63 games. In these eight years he has represented India in just eight ODIs and once, in 2008, made a Test tour of New Zealand.
He was picked for the tri-series in Australia earlier this year and later when the World Cup squad was announced, he contributed as a net bowler. “I always waited for my chance, never had any negative thought process. Earlier, I used to think a lot (about India selection) but now am more focused on things which is in my hands,” he says. He talked about remaining hopeful for the call from the national selectors and said he has been widening his range. “I can not only hit the deck but also swing the ball.” He had worked a lot with Shaun Pollock in the IPL days to develop his bowling.
On Saturday, Kulkarni, who had got opener Monil Patel overnight, got four more wickets. Baroda had begun the day on 133 for 1 but Kedar Devdhar fell, caught behind off Abhishek Nayar. They lost Deepak Hooda not long after, caught and bowled by leggie Abhishek Raut for 29. Kulkarni was soon brought to the attack and he soon found the edge of Baroda captain Aditya Waghmode, who scored a patient 57 from 190 balls.
Yusuf Pathan, who was dropped on seven, was trapped lbw in the next over by Kulkarni who then uprooted the stumps of Swapnil Singh to leave Baroda tottering at 208 for 5. Baroda rallied back through Pinal Shah and Hardik Pandya. The Mumbai Indians star Pandya scored his first boundary after facing 101 balls while Shah strived to rotate strike.
Just when they seemed well settled, the 78-run partnership in 228 deliveries ended when Shah fell, trying to pull Raut but failing to clear Kulkarni in the deep. Pandya fell soon to leave Baroda on 345 for 9 before the two tailenders Murtuja Vohra and Sagar Mangalokar extended Mumbai’s agony with a 38-run unbroken stand.
Brief scores: Mumbai 447 vs Baroda 345/9 in 140 overs (Kedar Devdhar 95, A Wagmode 57, Hardik Pandya 39; Dhawal Kulkarni 5/69, Abhishek Raut 2/63).
