Sarfaraz, Patidar to Mulani: Ranji Trophy Stars in Queue for Team India Call-Up
Sarfaraz Khan was named the Player of the Series.
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Long before the IPL was even conceptualised, India's premier First Class cricket competition, the Ranji Trophy was the country's cricket's bonanza. Do well here, and get a chance to take your career to the next level by claiming the coveted India cap.
Over the years, the top averaging players in the Ranji Trophy like Vijay Merchant (98.35), Sachin Tendulkar (85.62), VVS Laxman (80.61) and Rohit Sharma (72.87) have invariably worn the Indian jersey.
Last year, when the Ranji Trophy had to be canned due to COVID-19, it was the first time since the tournament's inception in 1934-35 that the prestigious competition wasn't held.
The 2021-22 season was also on a knife's edge before an improvement in the state of the pandemic allowed a truncated season to take place, which was essential for the selectors to gauge the form and skill of players in order to award places in the Indian team.
As Madhya Pradesh beat 41-time champions Mumbai by 6 wickets in the final of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22, they pocketed their maiden Ranji title since the team's inception in 1950.
The state became the 19th side to win a Ranji Trophy title with Mumbai and Karnataka (erstwhile Mysore) leading the way with 41 and eight titles respectively. Madhya Pradesh had qualified to the Ranji Trophy final once before in 1999 when they were beaten by Karnataka.
Let's now take a look at the outstanding performers of Ranji Trophy 2021-22:
Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan poses with his prize cheque after being named 'Man Of The Series' of the 2021-2022 Ranji Trophy season.
(Photo: PTI)
Sarfaraz Khan
Sarfaraz Khan was by far the best performer on display in this season of the Ranji Trophy. In fact, he became only the third player to score in excess of 900 runs in two Ranji Trophy editions after Ajay Sharma did it in 1991-92 and 1996-97 and Wasim Jaffer achieved the feat in 2008-09 and 2018-19.
Sarfaraz became the first batter to the landmark in successive editions. His current First Class batting average of 81.61 is second only to the great Don Bradman (95.14) among batters having scored a minimum of 2000 runs in First Class cricket.
The Mumbai middle-order batter finished the season with 982 runs at a sensational average of 122.75 and has attracted the attention of various former Indian cricketers who want him to be included in the Indian Test side right away.
There are already whispers of him making it to the Indian squad for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh towards the end of this year.
Shams Mulani
Another reliable Mumbai player Shams Mulani has continued to impress with the red ball. The canny spinner finished as the highest wicket-taker in the recently-concluded season of the Ranji Trophy with 45 wickets from 11 innings at 16.75 and an economy rate of 2.90.
Mulani maintained a strike rate of 34.5 and claimed six 5-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls this year. He even picked up a fifer while bowling a marathon 63.2 of the 177.2 overs in Madhya Pradesh's first innings in the final. Mulani came back to snaffle up three more in the second innings.
Rajat Patidar
Madhya Pradesh's Rajat Patidar reiterated that his sensational 112 not out in the IPL 2022 Eliminator against Lucknow Super Giants and another impressive 58 in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals was not a flash in the pan as he starred in the Ranji Trophy final as well.
His steady 219-ball 122 helped Madhya Pradesh to a huge 536-run total and a big first innings lead. Patidar remained unbeaten in the second dig and hit the winning runs to take Madhya Pradesh to glory.
Overall, Patidar scored 658 runs from 9 innings of 6 matches at an average of 82.25 with two centuries and five half-centuries, ending up as the second-highest run-scorer in the season.
Kumar Kartikeya
Another player made popular by the IPL, Mumbai Indians' Kumar Kartikeya also did an amazing job for Madhya Pradesh throughout the season and was one of the pillars on which Madhya Pradesh's success was built.
The spinner who has some mystery about him has risen through the ranks by dint of sheer hard work, perseverance and, of course, skill and has begun to reap his rewards now.
Kartikeya toiled away for 41 uneventful overs in Mumbai's first innings, taking just one wicket while giving away 133 runs at an economy rate of 3.20. The persistence yielded fruit in Mumbai's second innings when he was the highest wicket-taker for his side with 4 scalps from 25 overs.
The other batters who made a mark include Nagaland's Chetan Bist, Madhya Pradesh's duo of Yash Dubey and Shubhan Sharma who stitched together an eye-catching 200+ 2nd wicket partnership in the final and Bihar's Sakibul Gani who struck a triple century on First Class debut.
With the ball, Jharkhand's Shahbaz Nadeem, Madhya Pradesh's Gaurav Yadav and Maharashtra's Satyajeet Sunil Bachhav all took more than 20 wickets in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season.
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