Mumbai beat Bengal by 132 runs at the Wankhede Stadium to win their 37th Ranji Title (and 7th in the last 14 seasons). All things considered, Mumbai’s performance was about par – with the India players making all the difference. Apart from a brief period when Ganguly and Tiwari (Dada and chota-Dada if the grapewine is to be believed!) were at the crease. Rohan Gavaskar threatened briefly, but once he left, it was a matter of time. Bengal tried to make a match of it, but after their first innings debacle, it was always going to be too difficult.
What this Ranji Trophy game did show was a glimpse of what the Ranji Trophy can be – if it is expanded and if the Duleep Trophy becomes a viable contest (instead of the knockout farce that it is today). First class cricket will not be played in India until October now. So there is no first class cricket played in India from February to October! The weather definitely does not define this season. With more Ranji matches, you would have more opportunities for India players to participate, and you would have a greater opportunity to sort of up coming talent. Manoj Tiwari and Ranadeb Bose have come to the fore this year. One other important thing that an expanded domestic cricket schedule will do (especially if it is televised), is that it will provide more information to the average Indian about cricket. This will hopefully lead to more informed, and less filmy positions about cricket (Chappell getting assaulted apparently because Orissa wasn’t represented in the Indian side, Kaif’s home being attacked etc etc). If you really think about it, for the profile that cricket has in India, an astonishing little amount of it is actually played in the public eye.
The high profile match has also brought to the fore shortcomings in ground facilities for spectators, which must be embarassing for the MCA, what with the 2011 World Cup Final scheduled to be played at the Wankhede Stadium.
This blog has a superb set of posts on the Ranji Final and Mumbai Cricket. Do have a look at it……
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