The Mumbai cricket team led by Ajinkya Rahane won the Ranji Trophy 2023-2024 season by defeating Vidarbha led by Akshay Wadkar in the finals held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- This marks the Mumbai team’s 42nd Ranji Trophy and first trophy since 2016.
- The 89th edition of the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic first-class cricket tournament, was held from 5th January to 14th March 2024. The tournament witnessed the participation of 38 teams.
Prize Money & Other Awards:
i.The Mumbai team received the prize money of Rs. 5 crore as the winner, and the Vidarbha team received Rs. 3 crore as the runners-up.
ii.Player of the series: Tanush Kotian (Mumbai)
iii.Player of the match(Finals): Musheer Khan (Mumbai)
Records at Ranji Trophy:
Musheer Khan:
i.Mumbai’s Musheer Khan (age: 19 years and 14 days) surpassed the Sachin Tendulkar’s record and became the youngest Mumbai player to score a century in the Ranji Trophy final.
ii.He scored 136 runs in the second innings of the Ranji Trophy final.
- Tendulkar scored a century in the Ranji Trophy finals (1994–95) against Punjab at the age of 21.
Tanmay Agarwal:
i.Tanmay Agarwal of Hyderabad scored 323 off just 160 balls against Arunachal Pradesh in a group-stage match. This is the 7th most runs scored by any batter in a single day’s play in first-class cricket.
- He set a record for the most runs by an Indian batsman in a single day. He breaks Virender Sehwag’s record of 284 runs made against Sri Lanka in 2009.
ii.He scored 300 runs with 147 balls, With this he became the world’s fastest triple-hundred scorer in first-class cricket. Previously, the record was held by South Africa’s Marco Marais, who scored 300 runs with 191 balls in 2017.
iii.He also became the fastest double-hundred scorer in first-class cricket in India. He scored 200 runs with 119 ball.
- He broke Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri’s record of 200 from 123 balls against Baroda in 1985.
Tushar Deshpande and Tanush Kotian:
i.Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande became the second No. 10 and No. 11 pair to score centuries in the same first-class innings.
- They also became the 1st No. 10 and No. 11 pair to score centuries in the same Ranji tropy innings.
ii.Deshpande scored 123 runs, and Kotian scored 120 runs in the quarterfinal against the Baroda team.Their partnership of 232 runs became the second highest for the 10th wicket in the Ranji Trophy.
Railways:
i.The Railways team broke the Ranji Trophy record for the highest-ever successful chase after chasing a 378-run target set by Tripura during the group stage match.
ii.Previously, the Saurashtra team chased down a 372-run target against Uttar Pradesh in the 2019–20 Ranji Trophy season.
Indian Fast Bowler Dhawal Kulkarni Announces Retirement from International and First Class Cricket
i.Indian fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni announced his retirement from international cricket and first-class cricket after the Ranji Trophy Finals.
ii.He represented the Indian national team in 12 One Day International (ODI) matches and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20I). He took 19 wickets in ODIs and three wickets in T20Is for India.
iii.He was also part of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy-winning team in the 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2015–16, and 2023–24 seasons.
iv.In his first-class career, he has a record of 285 wickets in 96 matches.
v.He played in the in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Rajasthan Royals, Gujarat Lions, and Mumbai Indians.
About Ranji Trophy:
i.The Ranji Trophy is named after one of India’s first test cricketers, Ranjitsinhji, who played for England and Sussex.
ii.The tournament’s first edition was held in 1934–35 and won by Bombay (now known as Mumbai)
iii.It is conducted by the the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI).
