Mumbai has done it again and it’s the 40th time they have lifted the Ranji Trophy. This time under Ajit Agarkar – the most experienced player in the side. (not ruling out Tendulkar, but Agarkar has been playing a lot of Ranji tournaments)
Saurashtra were doing great this season until the final showdown. Dhaval Kulkarni was the pick of the bowlers as he bowled some lovely out-swingers on Day 1 and left many of the opposition batsmen in disarray. Saurashtra were bundled for a mere 150+ score. The managed to bowl well but Jaffer ensured that Saurashtra never walked away with the match. He scored a great 100 and other batsmen chipped in too.
Mumbai having a good overall lead would have never thought as to what was in store for them. Dhaval Kulkarni once again dismissed the Saurashtra batsmen and this time at a much lower score of 82. This handed Mumbai their 40th Ranji title as they won by and innings and 100+ runs.
I think that things could have been slightly different if the inform Cheteshwar Pujara was allowed to play in the match. He has come out of an amazing test series against England. He didn’t face a single ball in the recent ODI series when he wasn’t allowed by the BCCI to play for Saurashtra.
Well, things were supposed to happen this way,can’t help it either !