A dejected Prithvi Shaw says Mumbai will come back stronger from the defeat they endured in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 final with Madhya Pradesh becoming the champions for the first time in their history. Set a low target of 108, MP chased it down for the loss of four wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on the fifth and final day.
Mumbai came into the final as the favourite having won the title 41 times before. However, MP out-batted them across the five days of the Ranji final to lift the trophy.
Shaw was naturally disappointed with the result but is happy with the way his team performed throughout the season. “I think the way the boys have played it is unbelievable. Lot of youngsters and new guys showed character and showed what Mumbai cricket is all about. Every day can’t be your day, MP guys batted and bowled well. We can learn from this and move forward,” Shaw said during the post-match presentation.
Shaw said personally he could have batted longer. “If you ask personally I could have batted longer, there will be ups and downs in cricket. All my focus was on what I can do better for the boys and team, surely will come back stronger next year,” he said.
He was also praise for Mumbai youngsters including Sarfaraz Khan who was chosen as the player-of-the-tournament for finishing as they top run-getter of the season. “If you see the scorecard you can see the kind of talent we have; Arman (Jaffer), Sarfaraz, Suved (Parkar) are the future of Mumbai cricket,” the 22-year-old Shaw said.
Domestic stalwart and former Mumbai batter Amol Muzumdar guided the team to the final in his maiden season as their head coach. Shaw was all praise for Muzumdar whom he described as ‘really calm’ and hoped he would have been proud of his the players have performed throughout the season.
“It is a proud moment for me to captain Mumbai. I really enjoyed playing under Amol sir, he’s really calm and tough and put in a lot of hard work this year. We didn’t get the cup but hope he’s happy with the effort we put in,” Shaw said.
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