The captain of the Mumbai team, Ajit Agarkar has termed their Ranji Trophy as one of the biggest. Mumbai has won the title for the 40th time beating Saurashtra in the final by an innings and 125 runs.
After match presentation, Agarkar said, “Winning Ranji Trophy is not easy and as the years have gone by it has become even tougher because the other teams have also improved very much. So I’m very proud of the achievement.”
He said, “Having not been in the final for a couple of years, all the players were very keen to do well this season. We didn’t have a smooth sailing during the league stage, but when the knock-out stage began, everyone brought out their ace game.”
Further, the Mumbai captain, Ajit Agarkar praised cricketer Wasim Jaffar. Agarkar said, “His [Jaffer] innings was exceptional. He keeps doing it for us. To play an innings of that kind on this pitch under pressure is very special. That’s why he has got the amount of runs in domestic cricket.”
Jaffar made brilliant 132 runs in the finals against Saurashtra, finishing the final game in just three days.
Another young talent from Mumbai is the pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, talking 9 for 56 match figure. Agarkar said, “Dhawal has been our stand out performer for the past four or five seasons now. He bowled exceptionally well and probably could have ended up with eight wickets if the luck a bit more on his side.”
Talking about Sachin Tendulkar’s contribution, he said, “Sachin had come in and played a crucial role.”
Captain Ajit Agarkar himself bowled nicely and took 5 for 48 in the match. He said, “You just don’t need to be in the team as captain, but also need to contribute as a player. So I am extremely pleased with my own performance.”
Agarkar said, “Little bit surprised [the way Saurashtra batsmen played in their second essay] but we got the ball in the right areas first up. We were lucky enough to get the edges. Once we have them three or four down, they don’t have the depth in the batting that we have.”
