Madhya Pradesh beat domestic powerhouse Mumbai by six wickets in a one-sided Ranji Trophy final on Sunday.
On the final day, Mumbai could only manage 269 in their second innings and MP had a target of just 108 runs. The match was in MP's control and they ended it in style.
Coach Chandrakant Pandit won a record sixth national title as a coach after the victory. Interestingly, 23 years ago when MP reached the final for the first and the only time he was the captain at that time when MP lost to Karnataka.
Sarfaraz Khan who finished the season with 18 short of 1000 runs and young Suved Parkar tried their bit, but with the need to attack at every opportunity, MP's Kumar Kartikeya and the other bowlers knew that wickets would come their way.
The Yash Dubeys, Himanshu Mantris, Shubham Sharmas, Gourav Yadavs, or Saransh Jains aren't players who would give you the feeling that they are India prospects, the classy Rajat Patidar being an exception. But they gave enough indication that they aren't ready to concede even a micro millimeter without a good scrap.
MP's win once again proved that the Ranji Trophy is often won by sides that don't have too many superstars.
When the Ranji Trophy started, the Madhya Pradesh cricket team wasn't even formed and it was back then known as Holkar, a princely state from the British era.
Holkar was a formidable team till the 1950s before it was rechristened as Madhya Bharat and subsequently Madhya Pradesh.
As a Ranji team, it never looked menacing save the occasional final they played 23 summers. However, this was a team that had enough self-belief and confidence and the ability to never give up.
The Ranji Trophy deserves to be in the MPCA cabinet for the next year.
(Inputs from PTI)
