Sachin Tendulkar thanked Mumbai for their title victory but he did not forget to praise the heroic effort by Mumbai’s Vidarbha players in their second inning.
The legendary India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar summed up the Ranji Trophy final between Mumbai and Vidarbha very well in only one tweet. It was a fascinating final. In the majority of the time it appeared that Mumbai would beat Vidarbha in a blaze. Because they were ahead of the match after 3 days of play, but the manner in which Vidarbha came to come back in the second innings was impressive and, to a certain degree it was even surprising.
Vidarbha captain Akshay Wadkar (102) and the unknown Harsh Dubey (65) ensured that Mumbai at in the first session following Vidarbha began on 248 for 5, and needed an additional 290 runs to prevail. The Vidarbha team was ultimately defeated by 368. Mumbai finished their eight-year drought run to win a record-breaking 42nd Ranji Trophy title on Thursday in a decisive win over Vidarbha with 169 runs on the fifth and last day of an intense final match.
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Tendulkar He was in the Wankhede stands on the third day of the final felicitated Mumbai for winning the title but didn’t forget to praise the brave performance that the Vidarbha batters in the second innings.
“Many congrats to @MumbaiCricAssoc taking home their 42nd Ranji Trophy! Vidarbha’s resilience was a highlight particularly Karun, Akshay & Harsh who played extremely well and made the game quite fascinating.
“Mumbai’s bowlers kept bowling relentlessly, and finally the breakthrough was provided by Tanush, who picked up four wickets in the 4th innings. A fantastic display of cricket that had us all captivated. This is what makes domestic cricket so very important,” Tendulkar posted to X (formerly Twitter).
The final Mumbai’s 48th match during the nearly 90-year span of tournament’s history at the famous Wankhede Stadium was sealed when the hosts set a target of 538 runs for the team that was playing.
In a match which ebbed and flowed Mumbai emerged as the winner after Vidarbha was unable to keep them in check during long periods of play during the final two days.
Many congratulations to @MumbaiCricAssoc on winning their 42nd Ranji Trophy! Vidarbha's resilience added to the spectacle, especially Karun, Akshay & Harsh, who batted extremely well and made the match very interesting.
Mumbai's bowlers kept bowling relentlessly, and finally the… pic.twitter.com/hQb0D2TIUg
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 14, 2024
Wadkar not only led the charge for his team with his 100th century of the year, but also crossed the 600-run mark in this season. Dubey made it the only fiftyth time in his first-class career.
Together, they produced the longest innings of the series with 255 balls consumed in 194 minutes starting on day four to just after the restart for the resumption of second practice on the last day.
Wadkar went down shortly after the game was resumed — leg of Tanush Kotian (4/95) -after which the pair was broken the whole thing ended quickly for the hosts who lost to the Ranji Trophy final on the third occasion after capturing two titles.
Tushar Deshpande continued to use this short shot to eliminate Dubey (65 from 128 balls 5 x4s, 2x6s) and Aditya Sarwate who missed most of the game due to back spasm.
As Kotian was able to clean up Yash Thakur (6) for his fourth wicket Dhawal Kulkarni signed off from all forms of cricket, taking the final wicket of the match with Umesh Yadav to give the game an ending that was reminiscent of a fairytale.