Gujarat made history last week by winning their maiden the Ranji trophy and upsetting defending champions Mumbai at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. Not even the most ardent supporters of Gujarat would have imagined their team winning the prestigious trophy. Similarly, before the summit clash, very few gave Gujarat a chance against the mighty Mumbai, considered the powerhouse of domestic cricket having won this title 41times.
It was more sweet for Gujarat winning this trophy at the same venue where they had lost the Ranji finals to Holkar in 1950-51 at the same place. The legendary off-spinner Jasu Patel had slammed a century for them then though in vain. However, this time it was another Patel (skipper Parthiv Patel) who played a captain's knock cracking a hundred in their second innings when it was most needed by the team.
Having won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (2014-15) in T20 format, the Vijay Hazare Tropy (2015-16) in 50-over format and now the Ranji Trophy (2016-17), Gujarat have shown they have players for all formats and also a squad which is rather young and looks good enough to carry the success for the years to come.
Vice-president of Gujarat Cricket Association Parimal Nathwani said, “It is a moment of great pride and happiness for Gujarat. This Ranji win is the result of our selection and training, and will give an impetus to cricket in the state.” For the last few years, qualifying from the league stage was a challenge for Gujarat. This year, they had an outstanding season as they dominated at the league stage.
They registered four outright victories during their successful campaign, took first-innings lead on five occasions and only once, they conceded the first innings lead, against Tamil Nadu in Belgaum. This season was outstanding for the entire team especially with the main batsmen Samit Gohil, Priyank Panchal, Manpreet Juneja and Parthiv Patel firing on all cylinders and rising to the occasion whenever the team needed their contribution. Both, Samit and Priyank slammed a triple century apiece, and the latter also topped the batting chart this Ranji season.
Gujarat coach Hitesh Majmudar, however, gave the main credit to skipper Parthiv Patel, saying his “contribution to the team's overall success was beyond words. We have been playing positive cricket throughout the season but full credit to captain Parthiv who has made this turnaround possible for Gujarat,” Majmudar, who himself played Ranji for the state from 1998-2009, said, adding, “It is amazing to see how Parthiv has handled the pressure for the last five years.”
“Winning the trophy is indeed a matter of pride. Full credit to the team especially the top-order batsmen and our bowlers - in particular Jasprit Bumrah and R P Singh, who bowled beautifully throughout,” said Vijay Patel, chief GCA coach.“We missed the services of Jasprit and Axar Patel in the final, due to India duty and injury respectively, but the team rose to the occasion and played exceptionally well to clinch the trophy for us,'' he said.
