On This Day in 2013: A dominant Mumbai stamped their authority over India’s premier domestic cricket tournament as they bagged their 40th Ranji Trophy on January 28, 2013. On the third morning of the Ranji final, the top order of Jaydev Shah led-Saurashtra was blown away by Mumbai’s quick bowlers at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai captain Ajit Agarkar and the squad celebrated their special victory in a fizzy style with master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and the rest uncorking the champagne in the dressing room.
True to their reputation, Mumbai delivered the perfect match as the five-day final against Saurashtra became a three-day affair.
Mumbai gave a clinical performance to crush the opponent by an innings and 125 runs, and thus the home team clinched their 40th national title in 44 appearances in the competition and their first after two blank seasons.
Batting first, Saurashtra could make only 148 runs as Dhawal Kulkarni led the Mumbai attack with four wickets. The home team during their batting was powered by Wasim Jaffer who scored a well-deserved ton, making way for a total of 355 for Mumbai.
Already under immense pressure, Saurashtra could not even manage to put up a three-digit score in their second outing. Kulkarni struck again, this time with a fifer, while Agarkar claimed four wickets. Saurashtra was all out at 82.
Senior players like Tendulkar, Wasim Jaffer, Agarkar, Kulkarni, and Abhishek Nayar had witnessed a title win before, but it was the first claim for Kaustubh Pawar, Aditya Tare, Shardul Thakur, Vishal Dabholkar, Hiken Shah, and Ankeet Chavan.
It was also a moment to be appreciated for Zaheer Khan, who had caused the most important turnaround for the team with a five-for 79 in the second innings of the penultimate league match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore. Rohit Sharma also scored brilliantly within the league matches.
The reserves with the squad were Suryakumar Yadav, Javed Khan, Nikhil Patil (jr), and Sushant Marathe.
Many standout performances can’t be ignored. The wicketkeeper-batter Aditya Tare tops the list, who scored 842 runs at 49.52 with two centuries and three half-centuries, but he bagged more limelight for his work behind the stumps where he caught 39 catches.
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