Mumbai, stuff of champions!

The going was tough in the group stages and as skipper Ajit Agarkar lamented just before the final, Mumbai had not had a perfect match this season. But having won just 1 out of the previous 10 games in the season, the big daddy in the domestic arena rose to the occasion and registered a thumping innings and 125 runs victory over Saurashtra in the Ranji final to take home the trophy for a staggering 40th time.

There were teams like Saurashtra, Services, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh who enjoyed a good run this season but the eventual champions managed to go all the way as, unlike others, they were not dependent on just a few individuals and the whole squad fired in unison. Even in the face of adversity, there was someone who put his hand up as they almost pulled off an unlikely turnaround in the dying stages against Bengal and Punjab in the goup stages. The fact that Mumbai dominated in the knockout stages despite not having the services of marquee players like Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Zaheer Khan, speaks volumes of their bench strength.

Batting has always been their strength and it was the stalwart Wasim Jaffer who led the way in the final with a crucial, though edgy, knock of 132 during the course of which he became the top scorer and highest century maker in the Ranji competition. Jaffer, who missed a few games in the initial stages of the tournament due to personal reasons, made up for the absence by scoring heavily towards the business end and finished with 835 runs with the help three centuries.

The team’s star batsman, Rohit Sharma made no harm to his claims of getting an India cap and utilized his limited opportunities to rack up 712 runs in just six games. His classy knock of 203 against Punjab, though went in vain, gave Mumbai a sniff at an improbable victory. The other bright star in the team, Ajinkya Rahane, got just three matches to play owing to national duties (warming bench, carrying drinks and occasionally donning the blue) but still had time to score 274 runs with a best of 129.

When Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement form the ODIs, the whole country went into a collective mourning but it proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Mumbai team. Apart from boosting the morale of the side by his mere presence, he played in as many as 4 games, a rarity, and made significant contributions with the bat. He started off with two centuries in as many matches before scoring a measured 56 in difficult conditions at Palam in the semis to rescue his side from a precarious 23/3.

But the man of the tournament was undoubtedly the underrated all rounder, Abhishek Nayar. He engineered quite a number of rescue acts from his slot in the lower middle order and his presence at the crease had a calming influence on the Mumbai dressing room. In all, he piled up a mammoth 966 runs at a Bradman-esque average of 96.6 to end up as the second highest run-getter of the season. Apart from the runs, he also enhanced his reputation of being the man with the golden arm, providing breakthroughs at crucial junctures to finish with a haul of 22 scalps. He was at his lethal best during the spell of 6/13 against Bengal and almost single handedly delivered a victory for Mumbai.

Besides the usual suspects, it was the emergence of relatively unknown names that gladdened a Mumbai cricket supporter. Wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare, playing his first full season, proved to be a vital cog in the Mumbai machinery. As evident from his chart topping 41 dismissals, he was neat behind the stumps and also contributed handsomely in front it to end up as the second highest run getter for his side, scoring 842 runs with a best of 222 against Saurashtra in the group stages as an opener. The performances of Hiken Shah (773 runs at 53.21) and Kaustubh Pawar (604 at 46.46) are the other notable mentions.

In the bowling department, leading the way for Mumbai was left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan with 33 victims. Chavan, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, showed the virtues of sticking to a tight line and length and was devastating on wickets providing any sort of assistance. New ball bowler Dhawal Kulkarni wasn’t too far behind and had 30 wickets to show for his efforts. His big match temperament again came to the fore as he picked up 14 wickets, including 2 fifers, in the last two games.

The skipper Ajit Agarkar, who had a tough time with the officials last season, proved that he is still a force to reckon with. Though he didn’t pick up any five wicket hauls, he kept the pressure on from one end and collected 17 victims at an impressive average of 25.05. His batting also allowed Mumbai to play with five bowlers as he gathered useful runs down the order, most notably a brilliant 145 in the semi-final match. Though India’s spearhead Zaheer Khan was limited to just 3 appearances due to injury, his 5/79 against Madhya Pradesh paved the way for a crucial victory for Mumbai to advance to the knockout stages.

At a time when small town cricketers are making their presence felt, the victory was a timely reminder of Mumbai’s dominance in the domestic circuit. As if the 40th Ranji title was not enough for the detractors, Mumbai also won in the under-16 and under-25 category and have made it to the final in under-19 category, sending out a clear message that the terms Mumbai and champions will remain synonyms in Indian domestic cricket for few more seasons at-least.