BENGALURU, June 26: Madhya Pradesh, not considered among cricketing elites during the past decade, on Sunday humbled domestic powerhouse Mumbai by six wickets in a one-sided Ranji Trophy final under coach Chandrakant Pandit, who exorcised the ghosts of losing one at this very ground 23 summers ago.
On the final day, Mumbai could only manage 269 in their second innings, leaving MP with a paltry target of 108, and they did it in style as Pandit won a record sixth national title as a coach.
Sarfaraz Khan (45), who finished the season with 18 short of 1000 runs and young Suved Parkar (51) tried their bit, but with the need to attack, MP’s Kumar Kartikeya (4/98) and the other bowlers knew wickets would come their way.
While chasing, there were some hiccups, but with just over 100 to get, it was a stroll in the park for the MP team.
As they completed the victory, Pandit was flooded with memories (not happy ones), which he hasn’t been able to erase for over two decades and despite winning five trophies as a coach.
It was here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in the summer of 1999 when MP, despite a first-innings lead of 75, failed to win the game as Pandit, a proud captain, finished his playing career in tears.
He has again proved to be an ‘Alchemist’, after guiding Vidarbha to four trophies (successive Ranji and Irani Cup), with a team that didn’t have superstars.
The Yash Dubeys, Himanshu Mantris, Subham 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 millimetre without a good scrap.
They gave the Mumbai men a lesson in perfect execution of tactic with dollops of ‘Khadoos’ cricket, which many thought was a patent of the 41-time champions.
Since 2010, the Ranji Trophy, barring Karnataka’s dominance for a few seasons and Mumbai winning it once, it has been won by teams like Rajasthan (twice), Vidarbha (twice), Saurashtra (once) and Madhya Pradesh, who would never be in contention in the past.
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, which produced the country’s finest cricketers, the charismatic Mushtaq Ali – or the first ever captain of the Indian cricket team – the great CK Nayudu.
Holkar was a formidable team till the 1950s before it was rechristened as Madhya Bharat and subsequently Madhya Pradesh.
MP, over the years, have produced some fine cricketers – spinners Narendra Hirwani and Rajesh Chauhan – who had brief but eventful international careers.
Amay Khurasiya, who had finished his cricket some years before the IPL, where he would have been a rocking success.
And then there was the peerless Devendra Bundela, who was one of those unlucky middle-order batters, who played in the 1990s and 2000s when Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were in their pomp.
As a Ranji team, it never looked menacing save the occasional final they played 23 summers back under Pandit’s captaincy.
However, this was a team that had enough self-belief and was ready to punch above its weight. The Ranji Trophy deserves to be in the MPCA cabinet for the next one year. (PTI)
