The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
Thanks a lot for joining us at Sportskeeda for the coverage of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy final - a Maharashtra derby between Mumbai and Vidarbha - which the former won quite comfortably in the end. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did bringing it to you. Until next time, thoda sa bun maska, Irani chai aur pav bhaji ho jaaye!
And now Ajinkya Rahane leads his men to lift their 42nd Ranji Trophy title - the premier Indian first-class trophy is back HOME!
Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai captain): I want to appreciate Vidarbha first of all. They have worked extremely hard and believed in their ability. They have played really well. Over the last seven-eight years, they have done very well, and I am pleased to see them perform. Last year, it hurt that we could not qualify by just one run. We focused on our fitness and a lot of small details. The MCA supported us a lot and gave us everything we needed as players. Ups and downs are a part of a cricketer's career. You need not necessarily score runs every season. Every cricketer goes through such phases, and you have to respect such phases. However, I am very happy for everyone in the dressing room. Our support staff needs to be given a lot of credit. We don't give a lot of credit to the men who work behind the scenes. I have played alongside Dhawal Kulkarni from my Under-14 days. He is a giant for Mumbai cricket; the sort of experience he has shared with our seamers is unbelievable. I want to wish him the best for his career after cricket.
Akshay Wadkar (Vidarbha captain): Our batting clicked in every game. In a big game such as this, you have to bat well. Once you get a team like Mumbai all out for such a low total, you have to bat well and put up a big score on the board. I think we fell short there and could not pick up a big lead. Mumbai's batters showed a lot of determination and courage even though we tried our best. Ajinkya (Rahane), Musheer (Khan) and Shreyas (Iyer) batted extremely well. We were planning to take each ball as it came.
Tanush Kotian is the Player of the Tournament: We were runners-up a couple of years ago. All of us wanted to lift the Ranji Trophy and do something for the state. I had some confidence coming into this season. A lot of people helped me get this confidence. I worked a lot on my batting in the off-season, and I think that the hard work has paid off. I only want to keep working hard and get better. I want to come back stronger in the next season.
Musheer Khan is the Player of the Match! He gets a cheque of INR 50,000. Here's what he has to say: It was a very important innings for me. I was just trying to stand for as long as possible for Mumbai. I and Ajinkya bhai had a very good partnership. We had a nice understanding and just wanted to play with the straight bat as much as possible. It's a very proud feeling for me to be in Mumbai's dressing room with so many stars. I have a lot of work to do. I just want to focus on my process and not think too much.
The president and the secretary of MCA felicitate Dhawal Kulkarni for his contributios!
Time for the presentation ceremony!
Rahane and Kulkarni are standing out there with their children. What beautiful moments are these!
Shardul Thakur: I joined from the last league match. Everyone has been working very hard from so long. The happiness from this win is something special. We play cricket just for challenging situations. That's how my thinking is - get the team out of challenging situations. That's what happened in both matches. I got that big 100 from semi-final. And then the 75 here. The target of 200+ we got in the first innings was very important.
Dhawal Kulkarni: It's a cricketer's dream to start on a high and finish on a high. This final would be very close to my heart. Sixth final of my career and fifth win. It was a very good gesture from Rahane. I didn't expect it because Tushar took two wickets in the over before that. But he came to me and said, "Dhawal you have lead for so long, lead this over too". I have learned a lot from great and experienced cricketers an that's what I have tried to give back.
What sort of a conversation will Akshay Wadkar have with the Gods tonight? What will he have to say when he sees his reflection in the mirror? Would history have turned out to be a tad different if he had chosen to play with a straight bat and not tried to glance it to the on side? Or will his acolytes place the blame on the ball-tracking system, claiming that it did not show the ball to be turning enough?
Loud cheers for Rahane's men will go up in all of Mumbai's Irani cafes today! Bun maska and chai will be the flavour of this afternoon. The dignified Rahane - a good man whom Mumbai turned to in times of distress - leads his team off the field according due respect to the Nagpurians, who, but for a twist of fate, could have ended up on the other side.
Mumbai beat Vidarbha by 169 runs to win the Ranji Trophy 2023-24!
It was supposed to be a resistance that would have made every Nagpurian proud of their cricket team. Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey strode out after Lunch to take the attack to the Mumbai bowling unit and do the improbable - outbat Mumbai on their home ground in the final of the 2023-24 edition of the Ranji Trophy.
Almost as if they had erred in dreaming as far as to dethrone the traditional powerhouses, Vidarbha lost the wicket of their captain-wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar, soon after he got to his century. And what a century it was.
Turning up when his team needed him the most, Vidarbha's captain courageous made the Mumbai bowlers count with his application. However, he walked back after getting to his ton disconsolate at the Gods who had brought him so close to tasting glory and yet sent him back.
Dubey followed soon after, and from then, the Mumbai bowlers took over and brought the 42nd Ranji Trophy title back home. Vidarbha did their best but somehow could not cling on till the end to make sure that they upset the hosts.
Dhawal Kulkarni picked up the last wicket of his career when he bowled Umesh Yadav to give Mumbai this massive win by 169 runs! Vidarbha tried to resist only the way they know how to, but fell short in the end. Akshay Wadkar will be the saddest man in the country today.
A fitting end to Kulkarni's career as he picked up the last wicket of this game to hand Mumbai their 42nd Ranji Trophy title! A lot of emotional faces in the crowd. Hugs all around, Dhawal Kulkarni being in centre of most of them. The support staff are on the pitch and Rahane's team are as elated as any. It has been a season as good as any for Mumbai and this just peaks it all.
135.3 Dhawal Kulkarni to Umesh Yadav, ALL OVER! DHAWAL KULKARNI SIGNS OFF WITH THE RANJI TROPHY IN HIS POCKET! 42 titles. He reaches there by knocking off another veteran pacer. Umesh misses the big slog over deep mid-wicket and the middle-stump is off its roots! Special moment for all of Wankhede, special moment for all of Mumbai. But Vidarbha, streets won't forget this fight!
Umesh Yadav b Dhawal Kulkarni 6 (9b, 1x4, 0x6)
Yadav heaved it away wide of square leg for a boundary!
135.2 Dhawal Kulkarni to Umesh Yadav, there comes the big hoick down the ground! But it doesn't go where he intend and instead the inside-edge rolls to deep square leg for four!
135.1 Dhawal Kulkarni to Umesh Yadav, APPEAL! For both LBW and bat-pad catch but the umpire ignores. Full on middle and leg, Umesh misses the flick and it's going down the leg. The crowd gets behind Dhawal.
Aditya Thakare, RHB, is the last man for Vidarbha.
;'/></svg>){kind=small}
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Video
;'/></svg>)
