Madhya Pradesh defeats Mumbai in Ranji Trophy Final and grabs first title

Madhya Pradesh defeated Mumbai by six wickets to clinch their maiden Ranji Trophy final on Sunday. Chasing the modest target of 108, Madhya Pradesh reached the total with six wickets in the hut. Rajat Patidar remained unbeaten on 30. Earlier today, Kumar Kartikeya’ (4/98) helped Madhya Pradesh to restrict Mumbai to 269 runs.

“Being the captain of a Madhya Pradesh team winning the 2021/22 Ranji Trophy is a moment of a lifetime” – Aditya Shrivastava, Captain. 

In this epic Final Mumbai has always been pointed as the favourite to lift a Ranji Trophy. They are the most successful team in this competition, having lifted the title a record 41 times.

Many expected them to grab their 42^nd title when they locked horns with Madhya Pradesh for the final of the 2021/22 edition of India’s premier domestic red-ball competition. Madhya Pradesh was the obvious underdogs, but not particularly because of their trophy count.

Compared to Mumbai’s glorious record, Madhya Pradesh’s trophy cabinet has also proudly shelved four Ranji Trophy titles. But the major difference was that those titles were won under their other name “Holkar” and they were way back in the 1940s and 1950s.

Over the last few years, Madhya Pradesh didn’t show any signs of leveraging the efforts of the prime contenders for the trophy.  We have seen them reach the final once in 1999, but some time has passed since then. 

Therefore their entry to the Final was a golden opportunity for Aditya Shrivastava’s team. They had the chance to re-establish themselves as a serious contender in the Indian domestic circuit, and they surely didn’t disappointed the fans. Former Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit, who was the chief architect behind Vidarbha’s incredible rise in the late 2010s, led his team to their fifth Ranji Trophy title as Madhya Pradesh handed Mumbai a six-wicket defeat.