On 9 November 2017 at Wankhede stadium Mumbai plays its 500th Ranji Trophy match against Baroda.
In the history of Indian cricket and the 83 years of the Ranji Trophy Mumbai has easily been the most successful team. It has gone to the knockout stages of the tournament and won the Ranji Trophy more times than any other team.
Let’s have a look at what Mumbai cricket has achieved and what it has done for Indian cricket over the years.
Mumbai has reached the Ranji final a record 46 times. It has also won the trophy a record 41 times. Mumbai has the longest winning streak in a row, with 15 wins coming between 1958-59 and 1972-73. It has also given the highest number of Test cricketers to the country.
A brief history of cricket in India
Regular cricket in India started with an annual contest between Parsis and Europeans from 1895 to 1906, alternating between Mumbai and Poona as a host venue. The first such match, however, was in 1877 between Europeans of Gymkhana Club and Parsis of Zoroastrian Club.
Subsequently the Bombay Triangular and Bombay Quadrangular came into existence, with the inclusion teams of Hindus in 1907 and Muslims in 1912. The Bombay Quadrangular then became Bombay Pentangular with the inclusion of a fifth team: ‘The Rest’.
As the Pentangular had communal overtones it was dissolved in 1946 when there was political unrest and rioting in various places. With the Pentangular gone, the Ranji Trophy, which had started in 1934-35, emerged to be India’s premier first-class tournament.
(AP Photo/Gautam Singh)
How the tournament was named Ranji Trophy
This in itself is an interesting nugget of history. Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Anthony de Mello proposed a national championship, and the Maharajah of Patiala offered to gift the trophy, which at that point in time cost a staggering £500.
He wanted it to be named after Ranjitsinghji, but his rival, the Maharajah of Vizianagaram, wanted it to be named after Lord Willingdon. In an emergency meeting of BCCI the decision to call it the Willingdon Trophy was made.
However, on getting this news the Maharajah of Patiala played his own chess moves to ensure that the trophy was named after the first great player from India. Accordingly, when Bombay won the first tournament, it was the Ranji Trophy which was given away by interestingly Lord Willingdon.
Great Mumbai players over the years
Mumbai has given India some great cricketers. At one point in time it was said it is more difficult to enter the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team than the Indian cricket team. Let us try to recollect some great Mumbai players.
Mumbai has produced so many great cricketers that it will be difficult to name all of them. However, those who instantly come to mind are Vijay Merchant, Dilip Sardesai, Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Polly Umrigar, Farook Engineer, Vinoo Mankad, Karsan Ghavri, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Manjrekar, Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma.
Those who missed the bus
Paddy Shivalkar’s name instantly comes to mind. So too does Amol Mazumdar. The former had Bedi in the way while for the latter, Sachin, Dravid, Sourav and VVS was too much of a traffic jam.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
The future
Shreyas Iyer has already made it to the Indian T20 team. A brief mention is a must for Mumbai’s latest batting sensation, Prithvi Shaw. He has scored three tons in Ranji Trophy in his first four matches and appears to be an excellent talent.
Best ever Ranji final
This has to be the one played between Mumbai and Haryana in 1991, which Haryana won by just two runs. Mumbai needed 355 in just three hours and 20 mandatory overs and the Haryana new-ball attack was handled by Indian bowlers Kapil and Chetan.
At 34/3 it seemed all over. However, veteran Dilip Vengsarkar, with an unbeaten 139, and 18-year-old teen Sachin, with 95, fought heroically. Sadly, debutant Kuruvilla was run out with just two runs left, and while Haryana players celebrated, Vengsarkar openly cried on the pitch.
In 2015-16 Mumbai won their 41st Ranji Trophy with an innings win in the final. In 2016 they were runners-up. You would feel that a win followed by a runners-up would be good enough for most teams. Well, not for Mumbai. Coach Chandrakant Pandit was removed and replaced by former Indian wicketkeeper and coach Sameer Dighe.
This, then, is Mumbai cricket for you: competitive, combatative and often brutal.
It’s 500 not out, 41 and counting for Mumbai cricket.
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