Faiz Fazal, who led Vidarbha to their maiden Ranji Trophy title with a comprehensive 9-wicket victory Delhi, has rated this triumph as the biggest accomplishment of his career, bigger than even playing for the country.
Fazal has represented India in 1 ODI thus far wherein he scored an unbeaten 55 off 61 balls against Zimbabwe in June 2016.
"Winning the Ranji Trophy would be the biggest achievement of my career. I know playing for India was a big high for me because as an individual, you get to achieve that. I have always been a team-man. Winning the trophy for the team has been a big thing,” an ecstatic Fazal was quoted by PTI as saying.
"I have been leading Vidarbha since my age-group cricket days. And to lead a Ranji team is not an easy thing,” he added.
Talking about Vidharbha’s win against the seven times Ranji champions Delhi which came with a full final day to spare, the 32-year-old Fazal said: "From day one, I thought we can win it. I was in England before the season, and when I came to Nagpur and met Chandu Sir, the first thing I wanted to know was how to win the trophy. Then the process started. The first game against Punjab was the turning point.”
The hero of the semi-final Rajneesh Gurbani, once again proved to be the key man for Vidarbha as he rocked Delhi with a hat-trick on second day and ended up with an 8-wicket haul in the all-important match. Besides, the likes of Sanjay Ramaswamy, Wasim Jaffer and Akshay Wakhare also played their role to perfection. No wonder, Fazal wants the whole team to participate in the Irani Cup.
"The win is no less than a fairytale. This feeling cant be described. As a cricketer, we have always dreamed of winning Ranji Trophy. It is the biggest thing in our career. It happened today, and I am happy. For now, we are on seventh heaven. But again, we have to be down to earth and start our work tomorrow. I wanted the whole team to participate in the Irani Cup," Faiz explained.
The Vidarbha skipper also acknowledged the support he got from coach Chandrakant Pandit and the experienced campaigner Wasim Jaffer.
"I let the side be free. This win has not been easy. Behind this, Chandu sir comes in, Jaffer bhai, Karn (Sharma), Ganesh (Satish) played huge role. Otherwise it would have not been possible,” concluded Faiz Fazal.
