Bengaluru: Following his team's maiden Ranji Trophy triumph, Madhya Pradesh captain Aditya Shrivastava said that the win is the moment of a lifetime for him.
Madhya Pradesh created history and captured their maiden Ranji Trophy title, defeating favourites Mumbai in the finals by six wickets at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
"Completely ecstatic. Generation kind of time has gone by since MP has won the Ranji Trophy for the first time. It is the moment of a lifetime for me. The emotions are deep, we are trying to laugh it out but we are extremely emotional from the inside," said the skipper in post-match presentation.
"This has been my first year as captain and whatever I know about leading a side is from Chandrakant Sir. I would like to continue this. The stage is going to get to our mind but we have to stick to the process, that is what has got us here and will keep us here. That is the mantra we were speaking about in the meetings too. It is a good group coming through as we have been playing together from 2013. There is a good mix of youngsters and experienced players. Doing it once was not at all easy but it is going to be tougher to do it again," he added.
Coming to the match, Mumbai started off the final day at 113/2, with Armaan Jaffer 30 *(34) and Suved Parkar 9* (14). The duo went on to have a 56-run stand which ended with Jaffer's dismissal by pacer Gaurav Yadav for 37.
Parkar was joined by the man-in-form Sarfaraz Khan. The duo went on to add another 53-runs before Parkar was dismissed for 51 by the spinner Kumar Kartikeya. Yashasvi Jaiswal fell cheap for just 1 to Kartikeya.
Then Khan and Shams Mulani stitched a 34-run stand after this mini-collapse. Mulani was dismissed for 17 after being run out by Saransh Jain, ending the duo's resistance to MP bowling. Sarfaraz Khan fell shortly for 45, being dismissed by spinner Parth Sahani with assistance from the safe hands of Anubhav Agarwal. At this point, Mumbai was 236/7.
The rest of the Mumbai batting lineup could not put up much of a fight, with the side being bundled out for 269. Mumbai gained a slender lead of 107, setting a target of 108 for MP to take home their maiden title.
Kumar Kartikeya with his 4/98 was the start for Mumbai with the ball. Gaurav Yadav and Parth Sahani took two wickets each.
Chasing 108, Madhya Pradesh were off to a tricky start as they lost their opener Yash Dubey for just 1 after veteran Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni dislodged his stumps.
Then Shubham S Sharma and opener/wicketkeeper-batter Himanshu Mantri added 52-runs for the second wicket. The stand ended after spinner Mulani clean bowled Mantri for 37.
This brought Parth Sahani to the crease, who fell shortly for just five to Mulani.
Then arrived MP's best batter this season, Rajat Patidar. He joined Shubham on the mission to take his team to the target.
The duo did not have to toil for runs that hard. But Shubam Sharma was back to the pavilion for 30 when the team needed seven runs. He was caught by Armaan Jaffer who took a great diving catch off a Shams Mulani delivery.
Captain Aditya Shrivastava joined Patidar. The duo easily took their side to their maiden Ranji title, finishing at 108/4, with Shrivastava (1*) and Patidar (30*). Patidar hit the winning runs for MP, sending his team into ecstasy.
Earlier batting first, Mumbai put up 374/10 on the board. Sarfaraz Khan (134), Yashasvi Jaiswal (78) and Prithvi Shaw (47) played crucial knocks for Mumbai. Pacer Gaurav Yadav was the star for MP with the ball, taking 4/106 while his pace partner Anubhav Agarwal took 3/81.
In the second innings of the match, Madhya Pradesh were absolutely dominant with the bat, putting on a massive 536/10 on the board and gaining a 162-run lead. Yash Dubey (133), Shubham Sharma (116) and Rajat Patidar (122) were the key stars for MP with their centuries.
Shams Mulani was the key bowler for Mumbai, taking 5/173 while medium-pacer Tushar Deshpande took 3/116.
Following Mumbai's 269/10 in the third innings, MP were given a target of 108 to win their maiden title. (ANI)
