On this day, 28 January, Mumbai secured their 40th Ranji Trophy at the Wankhede Stadium in the year 2013. Mumbai defeated the Gujarat based Saurashtra cricket team and won the final by an innings and 125 runs. The home team were overjoyed by their win and celebrated their special victory by uncorking champagne bottles in their dressing room.
The three-day final against Saurashtra had begun with Ajit Agarkar winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. Saurashtra made a total score of 148 runs within 76 overs. Arpit Vasavada made the highest runs for Saurashtra with 55 runs off 146 deliveries.
The home team saw Dhawal Kulkarni scalping 4 wickets. Abhishek Nayar and Vishal Dabholkar took two wickets each while Ajit Agarkar had one wicket to his name.
Opening batsman Wasim Jaffer made a sublime score of 132 runs in the second innings and Hiken Shah made a contribution of 55 runs. Sachin Tendulkar scored 22 runs off 43 balls. The total score for Mumbai had gone to a staggering 355 runs by then.
Bowler Kamlesh Makwana took three wickets while two wickets each were scalped by Siddharth Trivedi, Shaurya Sanandia and Dharmensraasinh Jadeja.
The third innings of the match was a total game changer as Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah’s side unfortunately displayed a disastrous batting performance. Mumbai’s Ajit Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni picked four and five wickets respectively, stopping Saurashtra’s at a score of just 82 runs.
With the opposition scoring 82 runs within 37 overs, Mumbai managed to easily lift the coveted Ranji Trophy for the 40th time.
Cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Jaffer and Abhishek Nayar had helped Mumbai win the Ranji trophy in earlier seasons. Tendulkar, who won the trophy for the fifth time but said that the team truly showed their champion side by winning the trophy for the 40th time. Captain Ajit Agarkar was also elated on the victory and said that even though he had won the trophy before, it was a completely special feeling to have won it as a captain.
Mumbai had first won the Ranji Trophy in 1934-35 after defeating Northern India. Their previous successful title win before 2013 was in the season 2009-10, when Mumbai defeated Karnataka at Mysore in the final.
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