5 players to watch out for in the Ranji Trophy 2022 final 

The Ranji Trophy 2022 final will be played between Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh (MP) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from June 22 to June 26. Domestic giants Mumbai will be featuring in their 47th final in India’s premier first-class competition. MP, on the other hand, have reached the summit clash of the Ranji Trophy for the first time since 1998-99.

Mumbai secured a place in the final on the basis of taking a first-innings lead following a one-sided draw with Uttar Pradesh (UP). After posting 393 in their first innings, they bundled out UP for 180. In their second innings, Mumbai batted for 156 overs and scored 533 for four before declaring. Mumbai’s approach came in for some criticism from former cricketer Aakash Chopra as they did not push for an outright win.

MP, meanwhile, booked their place in the final in much more emphatic fashion, defeating a strong Bengal outfit by 174 runs. In a closely-contested tussle, MP had the final say as they bundled out Bengal for 175 after setting them a target of 350.

There have been some fantastic performances from both Mumbai and MP players over the course of the season.

On that note, let's take a look at five names to watch out for in the summit clash.

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#5 Kumar Kartikeya (Madhya Pradesh)

MP left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya celebrates a wicket.

MP left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya is the second-leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy 2022 season. In five matches, he has taken 27 wickets at an average of 16.33, with three five-wicket hauls. Kartikeya is one of the key reasons behind MP reaching the Ranji Trophy final after so many years.

The 24-year-old was the standout performer with the ball in the semi-final against Bengal. He claimed three for 61 in the first innings, which included two wickets in the first over itself. When Bengal set out to chase 350, the spinner again hurt them, dismissing opener Abhishek Raman off the first ball. He went on to add the big scalps of Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (78) and senior batter Manoj Tiwary (seven) to finish with figures of five for 67.

Earlier, Kartikeya had claimed six for 50 in the second innings of the Ranji Trophy 2022 quarter-final against Punjab as MP registered a thumping 10-wicket win. He has also picked up five for 34 in the second innings of the league stage match against Gujarat. Chasing 195, Gujarat were cleaned up for 88 as Kartikeya wreaked havoc.

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#4 Shams Mulani (Mumbai)

Mumbai all-rounder Shams Mulani.

If Mumbai go on to lift the Ranji Trophy 2022, a lot of credit should go to all-rounder Shams Mulani, who has been prolific with the ball and has consistently chipped in with the bat as well. The 25-year-old is the leading wicket-taker in the competition this season. In five matches, the left-arm spinner has claimed 37 scalps at an average of 14.59. His stats include five five-fers and two 10-wicket match hauls, an indication of his dominance.

Mulani claimed five for 39 and three for 15 in the Ranji Trophy 2022 quarter-final against Uttarakhand as Mumbai registered a record victory by 725 runs. He was terrific in the league stage as well, picking up 11 wickets each against Saurashtra and Goa and seven against Odisha.

On the batting front, he has amassed 292 runs at an average of 48.66 with five half-centuries. Incredibly, the five fifties have come in consecutive innings. Since being dismissed for a duck in the first innings against Goa, he has registered scores of 50, 70, 59, 50 and 51*.

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#3 Rajat Patidar (Madhya Pradesh)

Rajat Patidar has held the MP batting together. Pic: BCCI

Rajat Patidar was recently in the news for his IPL exploits, but he has been fantastic for Madhya Pradesh as well in Ranji Trophy 2022. In five matches, he has notched up 506 runs at an average of 72.28, including one hundred and five fifties.

His 79-run knock in the second innings of the semi-final against Bengal was a defining one as MP had lost some early wickets, with the match hanging in the balance. He scored 85 in the first innings of the quarter-final against Punjab. In league stage games, he contributed 142 against Kerala, 86 in the innings win over Meghalaya and 54 and 53 against Gujarat.

In a sense, Patidar has been the backbone of MP’s batting during their Ranji Trophy 2022 campaign. He will have to play a key role in the final against Mumbai if MP want to lift the prestigious trophy.

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#2 Yashasvi Jaiswal (Mumbai)

Yashasvi Jaiswal has three hundreds in a row. Pic: Yashasvi Jaiswal/ Twitter

Following an impressive IPL 2022 campaign for the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Yashasvi Jaiswal featured in the playing XI for Mumbai in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of Ranji Trophy 2022 and has been absolutely sensational.

In two matches, he has amassed 419 runs at an average of 104.75 with three hundreds, which came in consecutive innings. After warming up with 35 in the first innings of the quarter-final against Uttarakhand, the 20-year-old left-hander followed it up with 103 in the second essay.

In the semi-final against Uttar Pradesh, he smashed 100 in the first innings and 181 in the second. In an interview with the Times of India following his exploits in the semis, Jaiswal admitted that he could have scored a double hundred. He definitely seems hungry to make a big impact in the final as well.

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#1 Sarfaraz Khan (Mumbai)

Sarfaraz Khan has amassed over 800 runs in Ranji Trophy 2022

Sarfaraz Khan’s batting in this Ranji Trophy season has been of a completely different level. In five matches, he has amassed 803 runs at a stupendous average of 133.83 with three hundreds and two fifties. His dominance can be gauged by the fact that the next highest run-scorer in the competition this season is Chetan Bist of Nagaland - 623 runs.

What has stood out about Sarfaraz this season is that he has not been satisfied with three figures, but has gone on to score “daddy hundreds”. He kicked off his campaign this season with 275 against Saurashtra. The 24-year-old then smashed 165 off 181 balls in the innings win over Odisha.

The aggressive batter also starred in the quarter-final against Uttarakhand, hammering 153 off 205 balls in Mumbai’s record triumph. Sarfaraz helped himself to another half-century in the draw against Uttar Pradesh in the semis.

The in-form batter will be raring to end his Ranji Trophy 2022 campaign on a high with an impactful performance in the final.

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