Illustrious feat in Ranji Trophy: Second Time Two Teams from One State Lock Horns in Final

For only the second instance in the history of 90 years, the two domestic teams from the same state are playing in the final of the Ranji Trophy as Mumbai crushed Tamil Nadu and Vidarbha stunned Madhya Pradesh in the semis to advance to the summit encounter. Notably, Mumbai (Bombay) is the only common team which has been part of the both matches.

Kolkata: Mumbai making it to the grand finale of the prestigious Ranji Trophy is no big deal. The state that boasts of the most illustrious names of the cricketing world has been dominating Indian domestic cricket like no other, and for ages.

Having won the Ranji Trophy for talismanic 41 times, including 15 in a row from 1958-59 to 1972-73, Mumbai are in the final for the 48th time after drubbing Tamil Nadu. These all are records in domestic cricket. But Mumbai has also become part of a unique piece of statistics.

With Vidarbha setting up a final date with Mumbai in the 2023-24 edition of the Ranji Trophy, it is only the second time in the history of the Ranji Trophy that two teams from the same state (Maharashtra) are locking horns in the summit clash beginning from Sunday.

The last time it happened was way back in 1971 when Bombay (now Mumbai) won the coveted title beating another team from the state — Maharashtra.

As far as Ranji Trophy is concerned, Mumbai has been a supergiant after scripting records one after another. In terms of batting prowess, the top two run-getters are from Mumbai — Wasim Jaffer (12038) and Amol Muzumdar (9205). In the list of top scorers in an innings, Mumbaikars like Prithvi Shaw (379) and Sanjay Manjrekar (377) are second and third, respectively, in the list after Ravi Singh of Saurashtra who hammered a mammoth, unbeaten 543 against Maharashtra in 1948-49.

If one counts the centuries, it is again Jaffer, who is sitting pretty with 40 hundreds followed by Delhi's Ajay Sharma with 31 tons. The career averages are something that defines a player's class. Here also, Mumbai man Vijay Merchant has a Bradmanesque figure of 98.35 followed by maestro and another Mumbai stalwart Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar with 85.62. There are also the names like Ashok Mankad and Rohit Sharma who make the top ten in terms of career Ranji Trophy averages.

The khadoos mentality that is associated with Mumbai cricket literally proves their supremacy in the domestic structure over the years. However, already on a record with 41 Ranji Trophy titles, Mumbai would attempt their 42nd triumph only to better their own record with none even breathing down their neck.

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