Mumbai captain Prithvi Shaw, who was devastated after Madhya Pradesh won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in their history, said that Mumbai will bounce back stronger from their loss. On the fifth and final day of the Ranji Trophy 2022 final, MP chased down the 108-run target at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for the loss of of four wickets.
Mumbai entered the Ranji Trophy final as the favourites with 41 previous victories to their name. However, MP scripted history by outplaying them and lifting their maiden Ranji Trophy title.
Although Shaw was disappointed with the end result, he was 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 added that 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 also heaped praises on his teammates, including Sarfaraz Khan, who was named the player of the tournament after finishing as the season's leading run scorer.
He said: "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," Shaw said.
Amol Muzumdar, a domestic legend, and former Mumbai batter, led the team to the final in his first year as their coach. Shaw was full of admiration for Muzumdar, whom he praised for being "very calm," and expressed the hope that he would have been pleased with how well his guys had played during 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," said Shaw.
(News18 inputs)
