Vidarbha lift maiden Ranji crown Jaffer cements his legacy, gives Vidarbha perfect New Year gift
HISTORIC WIN Firsttime finalists crush Delhi by nine wickets to complete victory in four days
INDORE : Vidarbha crushed any feeble hopes Delhi had of a fightback, sealing a nine-wicket win with a day to spare to clinch their maiden Ranji Trophy title at Indore’s Holkar Stadium on Monday.
The contrast couldn’t have been more apparent between the unfancied winners and the seventime champions who were outplayed in all departments. For the second year, a new team was being crowned champion after Gujarat beat Mumbai in the final of the previous edition.
Delhi somehow managed to avert an innings defeat before being dismissed for 280 in their second innings, after Vidarbha’s first innings ended on 547, a lead of 252.
Vidarbha completed the formalities reaching 32/1 in just five overs to burst into celebrations on the pitch.
The Rishabh Pant-led Delhi were tamed by zestful spells from Akshay Wakhare and Rajneesh Gurbani. Delhi’s seven Ranji Trophy wins are only behind Mumbai (41) and Karnataka (8), but in the end, they were battered and left wondering what different strategy they could’ve adopted.
Players and the support staff ran on to the field in joy as Wasim Jaffer pulled one to fine leg boundary to help the Faiz Fazalled side crush Delhi in the final session on the penultimate day.
Before giving themselves the wonderful New Year gift, Vidarbha’s best performance in the premier domestic tournament was in 2002–03 and 2011–12 when they reached the semi-finals of the Plate Group. They had qualified for the quarterfinals in 1970-71 and 1995–96.
Trailing by 252 runs, openers Kunal Chandela and Gautam Gambhir got Delhi off to a decent start in the second innings, putting on 32 runs, before Akshay Wakhare struck to get Chandela, who had a good season (324 runs) except the 0 and 9 in the final.
Former India opener Gambhir, who had suffered a thumb injury while fielding on Sunday, looked in good touch, smashing seven fours in no time.
But Rajneesh Gurbani, who took a hat-trick in the Delhi first innings, trapped the former Delhi captain leg before for 36. However, Gambhir was a victim of poor umpiring as TV replays showed the ball was missing legstump.
The left-handed batsman finished the tournament as the highest run-getter for Delhi, with 683 run in nine games.
Dhruv Shorey and Nitish Rana also played positively and brought up their half-centuries. The intent of both batsmen was clear. They played attacking cricket and succeeded as that gave Delhi their only chance of any comeback.
Shorey, the first-innings centurion, looked set to get a big one until he edged one off left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate to wicket-keeper Akshay Wadkar. He scored 62 (10x4).
Rana fell in the final over before tea. A fuller delivery from Gurbani did the trick as the lefthanded batsman looked to drive through cover, instead edging straight to Wadkar.
The middle-order, led by Rishabh Pant, couldn’t contribute much as Delhi were bundled out for 280.
Off-break bowler Wakhare took four wickets while Gurbani and left-arm spinner Sarwate shared five wickets between them.
Resuming on Vidarbha’s overnight 528/7, Siddhesh Neral got an early life when Kulwant Khejroliya overstepped in the 159th over after beating the batsman with a slower delivery to bowl him.
Neral then scored four boundaries in no time before being dismissed by Navdeep Saini for 74 (8x4, 4x6).
Brief scores: Delhi: 295 and 280 all out in 2nd inngs (N Rana 64, D Shorey 62; A Wakhare 4/95, A Sarwate 3/30). Vidarbha: 547 all out in 1st inngs and 32/1 (Wasim Jaffer 17 not out; Kulwant Khejroliya 1/21) on Day 4. NEWDELHI:WASIM Jaffer’s contribution in the Ranji Trophy is sensational. Jaffer, who played 31 Tests for India from 2000 to 2008, has over 10,000 runs and 36 centuries in Ranji Trophy.
The batsman’s consistency was hailed by former Indian cricket team skipper and teammate Sourav Ganguly in 2013, who called him “terrific” and “simply brilliant”.
When Jaffer left ‘home team’ Mumbai after 19 seasons, which included eight Ranji Trophy triumphs, for Vidarbha, it appeared the end of his career was near.
However, at 39, Jaffer has played a part in a fresh high, helping Vidarbha clinch the title for the first time. He has a a 100 percent record of being part of the winning side in each of his nine finals.
Vidarbha’s fairytale run in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy reflects Jaffer’s journey. Having arrived from Mumbai with coach Chandrakant Pandit, both brought the never-say-die cricket culture for which Mumbai are renowned.
And Jaffer also doubled up as mental conditioning coach for a set of players who had to be reminded that they should only think like winners all the time.
Against seven-time champions Delhi in the final, Jaffer stepped up to the plate. With Vidarbha trailing by 162 runs and three wickets down, he raised a 73-run stand fourth wicket stand. His 78 laid the base for Akshay Wadkar’s 133 that took the match away from Delhi.
Fittingly, it was Jaffer who sealed the title with three boundaries.
Vidarbha became the seventh team to win the Ranji Trophy in their maiden final. Mumbai (1934-35), Nawanagar (now Saurashtra/1936-37), Hyderabad (1937-38), Maharashtra (1939-40), Baroda (1942-43) and Western India (1943-44) are the other teams.
Jaffer’s tally of 595 runs at an average of 54.09 in the Ranji season made him the fourth-highest run-getter for Vidarbha, after skipper and opener Faiz Fazal, Sanjay Ramaswamy and Ganesh Satish.