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Devendra Bundela takes a liking to Mumbai and Wankhede

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Madhya Pradesh skipper Devendra Bundela in action against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday
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The clock went back 10 years for Madhya Pradesh skipper Devendra Bundela while recalling his first Ranji century – 139 not out in the second innings against Mumbai in a drawn match at the Wankhede Stadium.

On January 7, 2015, Bundela continued from where he had left at this very venue. The 37-year-old cracked his second century at the Wankhede and his third against Mumbai to help Madhya Pradesh take a handsome lead in the Group A tie. His 269-ball 115 (14x4, 1x6) was his 25th century in first-class cricket. With this, he also became the fifth leading run-scorer in the history of Ranji Trophy.

He overtook Shitanshu Kotak (7,607), Pankaj Dharmani (7,621) and Amarjeet Kaypee (7,623) during the course of his knock on Wednesday. With 7,673 runs, he is only behind Wasim Jaffer (9,756), Amol Muzumdar (9,202), Hrishikesh Kanitkar (8,059) and Mithun Manhas (7,758).

For Bundela, playing and enjoying the game is what's important to him at this stage of his career. "I enjoy playing. I want compete with myself, which is what motivates me," he said.

"I enjoy playing at the Wankhede as it is fun to leave the ball here as the wicket has good carry and bounce. It basically appeals to my game. I remember playing against Vinod Kambli's Mumbai and scoring a century then also. It was great to get that knock," he recalled.

In 2012, Bundela completed his 100th Ranji Trophy appearance while playing against Bengal in Indore. Ask him whether he knows the number of Ranji games that he has played and he says, "I don't count them. Instead, I focus on performing to the best of my abilities and that is my challenge," said Bundi bhai, as he known as in the dressing room, who has played 117 Ranji Trophy games.

Dwell on the past more and he is not interested talking about it. Termed as one of those promising cricketers in his young days, Bundela admits that he may have lacked somewhere that he could not play for India. "May be I was not consistent. There was a chance, but it doesn't matter now. I love playing the game, which is why I am playing. I try to do as best as I can," he said.

"Our team is going through transition and I have to be there as a senior player. The wickets were different. They were turning in my time. Now, it's green tracks everywhere. And that is what my challenge is – to score runs at different venues and they give me huge satisfaction."

Know Bundela
Name: Devendrasingh Bundela
Born in February 22, 1977, Indore, MP
Is a right hand bat
Has scored 8476 in 136* first-class matches before with 25x100s
Made his Ranji debut against Tamil Nadu in 1995-96

Top 5 Ranji scorers
Wasim Jaffer (9,756)
Amol Muzumdar (9,202)
Hrishikesh Kanitkar (8,059)
Mithun Manhas (7,758)
Devendra Bundela (7,673)

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