Nothing is too difficult for the Rajasthan Ranji team

Its a popular saying that “impossible is nothing” and the Rajasthan Ranji team have proved it yet again. Not many people would have thought that a team like Rajasthan could ever win a Ranji Trophy, but it proved everyone wrong when they clinched the Ranji Trophy last year. The defending champions have once again proved themselves by entering the finals this year. Rajasthan, who were at the bottom of the plate group two years ago, have really improved a lot in the last two seasons. But the road to the finals this time around was not that easy. As it was last year, it is rather a miracle that they have managed to reach the Ranji finals. Their story of reaching the finals is quite an interesting one.

Before the start of this domestic season, there was a huge conflict in the RCA between the former head Sanjay Dixit and the minister CP Joshi, as both wanted to become the chairman of the Rajasthan Cricket Association. The two factions had also named separate selection committees, raising fear that two teams would land up for the Irani Trophy against Rest of India, leading to Rajasthan being scrapped for the season, but Dixit stepped away just in time and the focus was back on cricket.

Rajasthan started their campaign against a strong team of Karnataka at Udaipur. Karnataka scored a huge total of 623 runs in their first innings and bowled out defending champions for just 255, Rajasthan, however batted smartly in their second innings and somehow managed to save the game. But Karnataka, on the basis of 1st innings lead, secured 3 points and Rajasthan had be satisfied with just 1 point. It was the same story in the next four matches against Mumbai, Railways, UP and Punjab, when Rajasthan team managed to gain just one point after trailing in the 1st innings.

At the end of 5 matches, Rajasthan were second from the bottom, with just 5 points. If they wanted to reach the knockout stages, then they needed to win both their matches with at least one match with bonus point i.e. winning either by 10 wickets or by an innings. Not just this, the remaining matches of those 6 teams, who were ahead of Rajasthan, also needed to go in their favor and this is exactly what happened. Rajasthan defeated Saurashtra in the 6th match and then defeated Orissa with a bonus point in their last league match. Almost, all the result of 5 matches went in favour of Rajasthan, and at the end of 7 matches, Rajasthan, UP and Saurashtra were tied with 16 points, but Rajasthan had a better quotient and qualified for the quarterfinal stage. Their opener Vineet Saxena, after qualifying for the knockout said with a smile, “We thought maybe God has something else planned for us.”

But that was not the end, in the quarterfinals, Rajasthan had to play Hyderabad, who lost quite badly to Rajasthan in their previous encounter. They were dismissed for just 21 runs in their first innings, which is also the lowest total in the Ranji Trophy history. The Hyderabad team wanted to seek revenge, but even this time, they failed. Rajasthan scored 421 runs in their first innings and dismissed Hyderabad for just 144 runs. However, Hyderabad followed on and batted quite well in their second innings, but were unable to save the match as Rajasthan eased through to the semifinals.

The real miracle was still just waiting to happen for the Champion team. In the semifinal match against Haryana at Lahli, Rajasthan were bowled out of just 89 runs in their first innings with young Harshal Patel taking 8 wickets of just 34 runs. But Rajasthan turned the tables on Haryana, when a young bowler from Rajasthan, Rituraj Singh, picked 7 wickets and bowled out Haryana for just 97 runs. Trailing by 15 runs, Rajasthan started their innings with a better batting performance this time. At one stage, Rajasthan had lost just 4 wickets for 174 runs, but they collapsed and were bowled out of just 192 runs, thus setting a target of just 185 runs for Haryana. But who knew what was going to happen, as Rituraj Singh once again bowled superbly in the second innings and picked up 5 wickets, bowling out Haryana for just 120 runs. Rajasthan won the match by 64 runs, and with 3 outright wins, Rajasthan will now play 2 time Champion Tamil Nadu in the Finals in Chennai from 19-23rd January.

Star performers of Rajasthan this season

1.Robin Bisht- He is the current highest run getter in this Ranji season with 885 runs with an average of 89 with 4 centuries and 2 half centuries.

2.Vineet Saxena- He has scored a total of 627 runs in 9 matches with an average of 42.

3.Pankaj Singh- Pankaj has taken 32 wickets in 9 matches with a best of 5 for 64.

4.Rituraj Singh- This young sensation has taken 22 wickets in just 3 matches with best of 7 for 45 runs. He surely is the future of Indian Cricket.