Yes, Mumbai have claimed yet another Ranji trophy title u00e2u0080u0094 their 39th. Here's why this amazing number of titles shouldn't surprise you...
Yes, Mumbai have claimed yet another Ranji trophy title u00e2u0080u0094 their 39th. Here's why this amazing number of titles shouldn't surprise you...
Mumbai won their 39th Ranji Trophy title yesterday. The second best team's tally doesn't even go into double figuresu00a0Delhi won seven titles.
*Out of the 43 Ranji finals Mumbai have figured in, they have lost only four times. Thirty two of those triumphs were achieved through outright wins.
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*Wasim Jaffer, who only started leading Mumbai last season, has won the Ranji Trophy in both his captaincy years.
*Dilip Sardesai, who was highly instrumental in India's first Test triumph in the West Indies in 1971, never played in a Mumbai team that lost a Ranji game.
*Mumbai enjoyed a 15-season unbeaten Ranji Trophy reign (1958-59 to 1972-73). When members of those invincible outfits used to be asked how come no one could beat them, they would invariably say, "we didn't know how to lose."
*Australia and England dominated world cricket when Mumbai were ruling over Indian cricket. So how did their champion domestic outfits fare in terms of successive titles? England's Surrey won seven county championship titles (1952 to 1958) while Australia's New South Wales won nine titles from 1953-54 to 1961-62). But Mumbai won 15 on the trot.
*A lot of Mumbai's success can be attributed to the aggressive attitude of their players. When Eknath Solkar and Dilip Sardesai were tackling Garfield Sobers' West Indies team in 1970-71, Sardesai, the senior partner advised him to play freely just as he would play for his club side u00e2u0080u0094 the PJ Hindu Gymkhana. And Solkar didn't let his side down.
*Wicketkeeper Chandu Patankar played one Test for India, but that did not guarantee him a place in the star-studded Mumbai team. He could play only 10 Ranji games for Mumbai.
*Vithal Patil who is the highest wicket-taker in the popular Kanga League cricket with 759 wickets could play just two Ranji Trophy games for Mumbai. Such was Mumbai's strength.
*Sanjay Jaywant's Ranji Trophy experience for Mumbai is unique. In his only innings against Saurashtra in 1975, he got a bad decision and could never break into a Ranji Trophy team again.
*Left-arm spinner Padmakar Shivalkar starred in many a Mumbai Ranji Trophy triumph in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite claiming 361 Ranji Trophy wickets, he didn't get picked to play a Test for India. Shivalkar is the current chairman of selectors.
*Dilip Vengsarkar admitted that he struggled to sleep for several months after Mumbai lost the Ranji Trophy final to Haryana in 1991. Kapil Dev's men beat Sanjay Manjrekar's team by two wickets u00e2u0080u0093 the closest finish to a Ranji Trophy final. Speaks volumes of Vengsarkar's hatred to lose.
*No team can achieve invincibility without being mentally strong. Eknath Solkar returned to the Brabourne Stadium after his father's funeral to continue playing a Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai.
* Present Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer too played along despite receiving the news of his mother's death
*Maharashtra and Mumbai were fierce rivals in the national championships. The Pune outfit's best chance of beating Mumbai in a Ranji final came in the 1970-71 season. Maharashtra needed 253 runs to realise their Ranji Trophy dream and according to grapevine, had planned to have a grand party at The Taj after victory. However, Mumbai regrouped and bowled them out for 205. All party plans were cancelled.
*That triumph was achieved under a young captain u00e2u0080u0094 Sudhir Naik u00e2u0080u0094 who led a second string team with stars like Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Sardesai, Ajit Wadekar, Eknath Solkar and Ashok Mankad in the West Indies.
*In these days when bowlers concede extras regularly, it is believed that Mumbai's star fast bowler Ramakant Desai never bowled a no-ball even in the nets.
*Ajit Wadekar, a successful captain for Mumbai, did not believe in protecting a top-order batsman by sending a nightwatchman if Mumbai lost a wicket towards the end of
the day.
*Ravi Shastri's knee injury hampered his international career in the 1990s. The injury troubled him during the 1993-94 Ranji season too but he endured it with true grit to lead Mumbai to a Ranji triumph after eight barren seasons.
*Sachin Tendulkar's most memorable innings for Mumbai was the double hundred against Australia in 1998 where Shane Warne was whacked around. But his most significant Ranji innings would have to be the unbeaten 233 which he scored to help Mumbai win the 1999-2000 semi-final against Tamil Nadu.
*There is a story about a Mumbai batsman who was considered a superb fielder too. During a Ranji Trophy game, he shockingly spilled several catches which hurt his team badly. He couldn't stand it anymore u00e2u0080u0093 literally. Overcome by guilt, he ran to the dressing room to get rid of his frustration.
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